Returning Home

Because of physical and mental health concerns, Jarrek returned home from his mission on Friday, May 11, 2018.  He gave his homecoming talk on May 27, 2018.

Email 05/07/18

I do not know for sure what the plan is, but I will probably talk with you again this Sunday. I don´t know what time it will be. Things are going better. This last Monday immediately before our chat as we were at the bus stop I received a call from an Elder Barrett. If by chance you do not know him; he is basically the designated shrink for the missionaries here in Brazil; at least that is what I got from talking with him. I talked with him again on the phone this last Friday and I will be talking with him again this coming Friday. We attended a baptism of one of the sons of one of the members here in the ward. Why did you go to the Dollar Store?😕 You're sanding Grammy´s deck, why is that? Jostan's snake got out. I hope that went well. I remember the photos I took of a snake that appeared in the street while we were at lunch. They can be very dangerous animals. Thank you for the Jokes. Thank you for the Spiritual Thought. I have more photos in Drive. 😀

Email 04/30/18

Thank you for the encouragement. I will keep working on following the promptings of the Holy Ghost. I have God protecting me. I am SAFE. I am happier when I have the Holy Ghost in me. I will continue seeking to have it stronger within me. It´s working. Please list an example of a problem you might think that I would be having in the mission field?  Your request is too general; nonetheless I do at times have a hard time finding good food to buy in the grocery stores and/or markets. I am doing better, I am feeling the spirit a bit more now than at times in the past. Nothing really is going on. Things have been very strange here lately. My mental and emotional state have been awful at times past, but it is gradually improving. There are many good people here in Brazil. I have made many friends. There are people here in Industrario that are helping me with my mental and emotional state. Why do you want to speak with me on video chat❓Anything that you want to talk about you can just talk about here in e-mail. I am glad to hear that things are well at home. Jeffrey made madrigals, that is an accomplishment I never pursued. I hope he´s liking it. I enjoyed much of my time in choir. Sure I have to use my LDS password every P-Day, but Dad told me to never send passwords via e-mail. I guess I will have to send it when we have a video chat. I have been and will continue to be wise in the decisions that I make. I am seeking the will of my Father in Heaven and the enemy of all righteousness is trying to give opposition. Don´t worry I will fight him as I have hitherto been trying. Other than that my week has been pretty good. Our District leader and his companion visit us the night this whole thing started too see how we were and as usual we were alright. I got to meet a greeny whose name is Elder Martinez. He is from Mexico he got here last week and he is speaking really good Portuguese already. The next day the Zone Leaders visited and I got to meet one of the American missionaries here that is also from Utah.  Thank you for the jokes, the Spiritual thought, and I liked the photos. Thank you for your concern. As I am faithful to the Lord he will continue to support me as he has hitherto been. I am very grateful that he has watched over me. I am happy that things are going well for you all. I put some photos in Drive for you. Have a good week. Tchau. 😀

Email 04/23/18

I am doing well. My investigators are alright. I have had some challenges this week, but I have learned from them. There is something common here that is kind of sad. In all the areas that I have been in there is something that seems to be common. I learned of it in Cáceres. There exists 600 people baptized and confirmed in the city of Cáceres that are not attending. I was given the knowledge that this is common throughout the mission. I have the success of learning some more of how blessed so many people have been. Sounds like you had an interesting week. Jemma cut her hair again, I wonder why. Thank you for that. My week was pretty good.  Enjoyed some good experiences. Today is transfers. I will be staying here another six weeks with Elder Claper. Thank you for the thought from Elder Echo Hawk. Hope you have a good week.  Tchau😎📷

Email 04/16/18

I have had a pretty good week. We had another baptism this past week. Ester, the Mother of Julia and Juliana; was the person who was baptized. I have photos of both in Drive. We visited a family I love. They live near to my Ward Mission Leader. They´re a family that fell away from the Church. We are trying to bring them back. I am grateful for the opportunity the Lord has given us to help them. I hope to visit them again before I leave Industriario.

I have been thinking about some stuff lately. Have you been reading the Joseph Smith Translation? It has a lot of important information that I can tell that you may need to read again. I can tell that there are some things that it would be a good idea for you to read it again. There are many in the footnotes all throughout the Bible. Reading the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible in the appendix and in the footnoted of the Bible in part is the reason that I have at least a somewhat good understanding of how to keep the Higher law. I still have much to learn myself, but in the mean time I ask you to READ IT.   Have a great week. Tchau 😎

Email 04/09/18

I am better actually. My week was great. Things are going excellently with me and my investigators, in fact we had two Baptisms yesterday. I baptized a little girl named Julia; and my companion baptized her fraternal twin sister Juliana. I will put pictures in Drive. I am happy to have been able to do so. The Lord helped me do it. I hardly remembered the words to the baptismal ceremony. We still need to confirm the twins this next week. I hope to have photos of that as well.  Thank you for telling me what went on during the duration of the week. I am having a hard time remembering what happened this last week or two. I know that they were good weeks. We visited a bunch of people. I remember visiting this last week,I think it was Friday; We visited a young woman that the lord arranged for me to meet while I was with Elder Luiz Claudio. We met her at the bus stop. We were there because I had a physical therapy appointment downtown. We talked with her on the bus all the way there and a few weeks later we were able to visit her in her house with her sister and her mother. We visited her this last week and felt the spirit nice and strong whilst she was there after she left for work at the mall the spirit gradually left. I am grateful that the Lord has helped me during the duration of my time here in Brazil. I have needed it. I am glad that you all are alright. Thank you for the joke. One thing I noticed where is Jostan I didn't see him in the photos. Thank you for the Spiritual thought from President Nelson. If either of you have any questions as to my Patriarchal Blessing I am willing to answer some of them. I am grateful to see that dad is alright.  Thank you for the email and have a good week. 📷😀

Email 04/02/18

My week was pretty good actually. General Conference was awesome. I had trouble hearing much at the conference. I was told afterward that one of them (the new apostles) is Brazilian, which is great. I did succeed in hearing about the temples. One more in Utah and at length one in Russia. My Easter was pretty good. My week was kind of slow. This week was feriadas or Holiday for Brazil and so we visited very few people. They were all traveling or doing something. General Conference was good during the last two Sessions a bunch of people showed up.  The majority of them were members, but we did have some investigators there. I enjoyed the hymns, but I had a really hard time hearing and or listening to the talks. The speakers were really soft and the whole thing was in Portuguese and I had to listen really well to even have a chance of getting anything from it. I did notice that the Apostles and Prophets are at length giving some of the information I have been granted. They were using verses from the Book of Mormon in their talks to support the point of their talks. I am grateful they are still faithful even after all that has happened. Thank you for the jokes. I am grateful that you took the time to put so many in there. The photos were good. The thought from President Nelson was good. Have a nice week. 😀 Tchau.

Thank you!!!!!!! I am completely ignorant of the majority of these things. PLEASE when I get back give a good run down on everything that has changed in how the church is functioning, because I am not getting much news on this here. No visiting or home teaching, got it. No high priest's group, that is strange; but okay. I got nothing from those talks, I mean it. Who gave them? I could hardly pay attention to them. Even Elder Christofferson's talk which was translated in to Portuguese by him; I had a hard time getting anything from him. I understood the majority of the words, but I don´t remember anything. Oh I hope I will be able to do better next conference. All things considered I enjoyed being with so many people yesterday. The sisters were there and that was great. This mission has been hard. I am grateful the Lord has helped me with my problems that I have had. Thank you for responding so quickly. 😃

Email 03/26/18

My week was pretty good. We spent a bunch of our time visiting a bunch of members. Elder Claper was in need of getting to know them. We visited some families that are promising. One family even came to church this last Sunday. They were a reference from a member who accompanied us there and stayed for the lesson. They liked what we were talking about. I am liking Elder Claper. He follows the Spirit much better than some of my other companions.

I saw on the news in the house of one of our investigators that Steven Hawking died. I also heard that the main singer in Linkin Park died as well. Many people have been dying lately. 😢 Dad went to Florida? Boa viagem. 🛫🛬 I don't really have any more news. Thank you for the jokes. They were pretty good. Thank you for the spiritual thought. Have a good week. 😁 tchau

Jarrek with Elder Claper and the son of an investigator.

Email 03/19/18

My week was pretty good. I like my new companion. He is a lot like me, in at least a few senses if the word. He likes chess. He has a bunch of family in the Church. His name is Élder Claper.  He is from São Paulo. He follows the spirit pretty well.

Monday was good. We had a normal P-day, up until we found out that Elder Luiz Claudio was leaving for Matto Grosso do Sul. He packed up and we got a ride from a member to the Rodoviária in place of having to use the bus. That was nice. I then went to the Mission Secretary and left for Pedra 90 with the Elders from Coxipo and Pedra 90. I slept there. Tuesday was crazy we got up and got ready and left Pedra 90 taking a bus for Coxipo to have lunch and afterwards returned by bus to Pedra 90 to get something that one of the Elders from Coxipo had forgotten. We then returned to Coxipo to wait for advisement on the plan for my new companion. We found out that he would be coming late that evening to Industriario, and so we took another bus to Industriario and waited there. He arrived there around ten-ish. We had our Zone Conference the next morning at 8 a.m. We made it there a bit late, but luckily so did most of the others. I enjoyed that. Wednesday through Saturday was enjoyable. We visited a bunch of members and some of our investigators. Sunday was good. Elder Claper is a good companion. He is better than some of my others, although I have liked the majority of them.

I like that they are finally permitting the Priests to do that. They technically have had authority to do so since before temples were being built in these last days.  Oh I forgot, I will be leaving Brazil for the United States on December 17 not the fourteenth. I was given a new release date. Thank you for the news. It helps. Thank you for the jokes. Thank you for the thought. Have a great week. Tchau.

Mateus, a recent convert.

A family I love. We were teaching them and trying to get them to come to church.

This photo is of when we were in Pedra 90 to have our District meeting. Elder Novaes was there and it was his last week in the mission. We did something traditional and that is what the photo is showing.

Me at a service project.

Email 03/12/18

I am doing fine actually. My companion is to be transferred to Matto Grosso do sul; he is leaving tomorrow and I will probably be meeting my new companion tomorrow as well. His name is Elder Claper and he is from the Southern part of Brazil, which happens to be where most of the Italians settled when they immigrated here to Brazil. They have a lot of rich white people down there. I had an enjoyable time will Elder Claudio during my time here. We have a few investigators that are getting close to baptism.

Looks like you had an enjoyable week. I didn´t know that Jemma was having a bunch of accidents. Hope that she is all right. I remember when we had to adjust time here. I was in Caceres. They kind of told me what was happening, but they did it in such a way that I didn´t get it. They speak in a very strange way here. They didn´t tell me, simply enough; that I would have to change my clock. They just talked about the time difference and expected that I'd get it. I didn´t catch what they were doing and so I didn´t change my alarm. We were late for church the next day. Anyhow things are good here in Cuiabá. It is always hot here, but every once in a while we are blessed with some rain or shade.

That first joke is unforgettable. Thank you for those jokes. Thank you for the spiritual thought.  We had the experience this week of going proselyting with some members. They were very helpful. I remember doing so in the past in my other areas. My health is improving. I have liked much of my time here. I like Brazilians. If you have any questions, just ask. I have no new photos for the time being. 😎☀ Tchau.

Email 03/05/18

My week has been pretty good. I went to my last two physical therapy sessions this last week. I am grateful that I had them. My companion is a good missionary. My area is a good area. My investigators are doing fine. We actually are having more success than usual. We actually succeeded in bringing two of our investigators to Church. I have liked many things about my mission and some things I have not. I have learned many things here. Yes, I have grown in my testimony and as a person quite a lot.

Another good week for the Nelsons. The thing about the Elders will probably happen often. It is possible for us to be prompted to do most anything as the Holy Spirit directs. Thank your for the jokes. The thought is pretty good.

Monday was a normal P-day with the addition of physical therapy in place of something else. Tuesday was good, we visited many of our investigators; we also visited a few members. Wednesday was my last session of physical therapy. I liked having the opportunity to give my therapist Ariani a Book of Mormon. Thursday we visited a bunch of investigators again. We visited a certain family that I like that night. The woman we are teaching's name is Jessica. We have been visiting her and her brother for a while now. Jessica has one of the cutest three year-olds as a daughter I have encountered in a while. She speaks in full sentences, in fact she seems to speak and understand Portuguese better than I do. We will probably visit them some more in the future. Friday I went on splits with Elder Woodson. I enjoyed that I got to speak English with someone. It gets real burdensome sometimes to not be able to talk face to face to a person who speaks English. Especially when it is not for a while. That night we slept at our district leader's house and returned the next morning. Saturday we didn´t do too much. Saturdays and Sundays ironically are the worst days here in the Cuiabá Brazil Mission and in Brazil in general to visit people. We visited a member and accompanied him to the parking lot of the church house for the conference. We didn´t attend Saturday, but we did yesterday. Sunday was excellent. We got to see a bunch of people in the stake and several less active members were there as well as some of our investigators. President Oliveira and his wife were also there. They gave talks. That is my week. Hope you have a good one. It is really hot down here. Tchau 😎☀😅😓😰💦💧

Email 02/26/18

Thank you for letting me know (about his Christmas package). I was wondering why it hadn´t arrived yet, considering I have already received the package full of letters. Thank you for sending it. I like the messages from the members and the several letters from Jemma and Julia.

I am doing great actually. We had a good week and we taught some new people. We intend to visit them later this week. We had a lesson last night in a member's house with a woman who was born into the catholic church. We had a fun time teaching her the Plan of Salvation. We met a less active member this last week that attended sacrament meeting. I am grateful for the help we have received from the Lord. Our mission went from having three baptisms to having eleven.

Happy Birthday Jaylen. 🎂 Besides the snow storms, it looks like you had a good week. I liked the photos. Jemma looks happy. I liked the one of the Down Stairs Bathroom. It looks great. Thank you for the jokes. The spiritual thought was good. 🤓  I am sorry to hear that Heather´s father has died.😢 Thank you for letting me know.

Two of the pictures are from an ice cream place we visited on P-day. I bought Subway before and ate it there. The rest are from when we were stranded half-way home from Cuiabá city center. 🚌The Buses tire went flat. and we had to wait for while for another bus, but Elder Luiz Claudio called a member and he helped us out.🚗 The Guitar is a monument of the fact that Cuiabá is a three hundred year old city. 💯💯💯 The Flowers are just some flowers nearby where we were waiting. Thanks for asking. 😎 tchau.

Email 02/19/18

I am doing better. The physical therapy is working. I happen to be doing it at the same time as a Sister in the mission. She just so happens to be the same Brazilian Sister from my group when I arrived here. She and her companion are in the photos of McDonald's. Their names are Lobos and Francia. Sister Francia is Filipino and she speaks English.

My week was good. It was about as good as any other week here, but we did have progress with one of our investigators. She finally came to sacrament meeting. Now the only problem is persuading the rest of her family to do so. I did meet someone in the ward who told me that he was the first member of the Church that was baptized and confirmed a member here in Matto Grosso. His name is Luiz Papa de Arruda and was confirmed when you were five years old (1981).

Carnival was pretty good. We spent the evening with an investigator and watched Carnival on her television with her. My companion was happy to see his home town of Recife on the television.

I had forgotten about Valentines Day. Sounds like a good week. I like the picture of Jemma. The Grandfather Clock looks nice. 'Well-Adjusted Kids' what a good massage. Thank you for the jokes. Elder Luiz Claudio wants me to 'Mandar Braços' for you (it is a friendly gesture that implies: send hugs to them.) Thank you for the message from President Oaks. I am glad Jostan is💏 dating. Have a good week. 😎

Email 02/12/18

I am doing alright. I will probably spend Carnaval with members or investigators. Things are slow in reference to my investigators, and my companion is getting a little frustrated with how slow it is. If you look at the numbers that we have in the weekly mission newspaper (journal), it has numbers for the mission. Yes I like it better than Caceres, and the members here are great. The fact that we are at the outskirts of the city makes the bus situation fun whenever we have to travel downtown. It usually takes at least around an hour and a half to make it downtown, when ever we have to go; for the cause of having to wait for the bus and ride in it all the way there. I will be continuing to go downtown for physical therapy every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the next few weeks.

Sounds like you had a good week. I like that things are going well up there. Thank you for the jokes. They´re pretty good. Thank you for the thought. I happened to finally send the blood exam to you. I put it in Drive in the Jan 28th file. I have some other photos in drive from last week not too much exciting happened.  We have been having a lot of rain lately. 🌧😁

Email 02/05/18

I am doing great, actually. I have been feeling pretty good. It is going somewhat well with my investigators. We visited many of them this last week, we have various. I am happy with this. These circumstances are much better here than in Cáceres. We are teaching several families. We have been lately having problems with getting even a few of them to go to Sacrament meeting. At least they are still receiving our preaching. I am not as yet a senior companion, and probably never will be, here on my mission. The Lord has purposes for me that are being better fulfilled whilst I stay a junior. Don´t worry I will be fine. I kind of like being a junior. The life of the leaders is very strenuous, at least here.

I heard about him (new mission president coming in July). My companion told me he is the same person who signed his papers for him to go on his mission. Thank you for writing his name. I am happy that President Oliviera is being permitted to return to his home. He has been in the mission field for much time. He definitely needs a break from this stuff.

I had a doctor appointment this last week. I found out that my spine is a bit off and this is the reason why I have some back pain. I will be taking some physical therapy this next Wednesday and on several other occasions during my time here in Industriario.

Wait, that Python in the photo is in our house? Awesome."Jory for short" that's funny. Kaitlyn (Jostan's girlfriend), got it. That first joke is excellent. Oh, 😆😂 your jokes are getting better. Thank you for the thought. and the jokes.

Oh, did you here about the rain that hit all of Brazil this last week? It rained in all of Brazil everywhere all at once. Elder Luiz Claudio and I had to stay in a members house for a while to hold it out. 🌧☔ Much flooding of the roads and various other places. 🌈 Thank you for the email.

Email 01/29/18

My week has been pretty good. I spent a bunch of time with members here in Cuiabá. We worked with some of our investigators and helped some less active members. I like my companion. The fact that he prayed to be my companion before I came doesn´t hurt my chances of liking him.

Most of the pictures I sent are from when we were in Cuiabá, more downtown I mean; and we were with our district leader and a member. We took pictures of the wildlife there. The capybara are great. We explored the park until it was time for us to return. My District Leader is leaving tomorrow, I think that is one of the reasons we were there. Elder Woodson is the American and the others are my companion Elder Luiz Claudio and Elder Amaro, our district leader. Hobbs is the name of the member that showed up and hung out. I have photos of geese and ducks, I think.

My health is improving, but I will still be going downtown to get examined again on Wednesday. I have an x-ray of my back and the blood results I still don´t understand when I try to read it. I will probably be able to understand what the heck they are saying in it eventually.  I was having a bit of back pain from walking with a bag constantly and probably has something to do with my posture as well. I hope to be able to improve it later on.

$6000, (to remodel the shower) wow in reals that is a lot: (18992,40). Melydi is getting married, whoa, that is awesome. Thank you for the news from home and the jokes and the thought. Have a great week. Tchau. 😊

Interesting ducks/geese Jarrek saw at the park.

Capybaras and baby capybaras at the park.

Jarrek's companion with some capybaras.

Email 01/22/18

My week has been great. I was transferred last Tuesday to Area Industriário. I am technically in Cuiabá. The members here are excellent. I live on the same street as the Bishop and several other members. I like how close we are to the members. The Church house is nearby, more nearby than most of my other areas. My transfer went well. When I arrived in Varzea Grande it was raining nice and hard. When I arrived in Cuiabá it was better. A member from another ward gave me a ride with my new Companion Elder Luiz Claudio and our District Leader. I like the members here they are a lot more friendly than the members in Cacerés. The members in Cacerés were friendly, but the members here beat them. Elder Luiz Claudio is from Recife and he is one of the missionaries that arrived with me here in the Field. He told me that he had prayed to be my companion. I think that that is part of the reason that I was transferred. I like him. He is responsible, likes to work well. I like how patient he is. So far I love my new area and my new companion.

I have been feeling a lot better. I went to the hospital in Cuiabá downtown this last week to get examined. I will be returning there this week. They took some blood to find out if I have any problems. I hope that these examinations with be worth it.

I kind of like the fact that President Nelson is the new Prophet. I was not expecting Elder Oaks to become one of his Counselors. That is awesome. I remember when Elder Oaks was there in Provo for Christmas. The fact that President Nelson is the new Prophet is fun. The members here constantly ask if I am his Grandson. They´re joking.

I like that Jeffrey and Jostan are going to be driving. That ought to make things fun. A Snowstorm; sounds exciting. Jostan has a girlfriend; is she the same person as before or someone else? I like that Jostan is being a good older brother. Thank you for the jokes and the spiritual thought. The photos are great. tchau.📷😊.

Email 01/15/18

My week was pretty good. I got pink eye, along with Elder Aguilera and Elder Fuentealba. The Lord helped out by providing us with a prescription remedy that usually takes having a doctor prescribe in order to get, he got it to us anyway. We used it on our eyes and we feel a lot better. I am feeling much better than I have hitherto been. My investigators are doing alright. We had a few of them attend Sacrament Meeting yesterday. Elder Aguilera was very happy that we had them there, but they aren´t going to be my investigators anymore I am being transferred to Cuiabá; to the 'Industriário' area. You can see the information in drive. I downloaded the roster. I have not received the Christmas package yet, but I have a feeling that I may receive it in my new area. I will be transferred to my new area while the new First Presidency is being announced. I will have the surprise of learning when I arrive there. I have enjoyed much of my time here in Cáceres. I am happy to hear that Jostan has been taking driving lessons. That is awesome that he finally passed his driving test. That is great that we now have that new-to-us car. I like that Jeffrey is getting going on that [learners permit] too. Sounds like you had quite a project to do. That is awesome that you got to feed missionaries. Members do that regularly here. They normally give us lunch. That is great that James is finally back. I like the photo of Jostan and his excuse to drive. Thank you for the thought and the jokes and the photo. I will be leaving Cáceres tomorrow after lunch.Thank you. Tchau.🚌🛣

Elder Jarrek Nelson
jarrek.nelson@myldsmail.net

Email 01/08/18

Hey. My week has been pretty good. We had the opportunity to spend New Years with Casal Silva. I am feeling better, but yesterday I got a major fever again. I hadn´t eaten sufficient vitamins and so I got sick again. I feel better now. Yes. I love many of the people down here. Their ways are very different from how we do it in the United States. Happy Birthday to Jemma. I had forgotten about it. My mind has caught up on many other things, I have hardly paid attention. I heard that President Monson died this last Tuesday in the Morning. I wonder who the Lord will choose next to be the President of the Church. Thank you for the photos and the jokes. The thought was nice too.🎆🎉🎊 Tchau.

Email 01/02/18

I do not take any multi vitamins as yet.💊 Those are somewhat expensive here. I like that I am having an experience. I like that I am on a mission. I am happy that I am doing what the Lord wants. I am still struggling with some things in the culture, but I will improve as time goes on. I enjoyed talking with all of you as well. I didn´t know that Grammy and Grandpa were moving to a senior center. I hope they enjoy it. That is great that Brin and John are in town. I am grateful that you all enjoyed your Christmas week. My was pretty good. I got to go on splits with my first companion Elder Novaes here in Cacerés. He is my Zone Leader now and he had not yet been here in Cacerés during the duration of his mission. He will be returning home in March. I am very grateful to have had a reunion with him. I spent New Years with Casal Silva and other members. Yes I have been trying to perfect my control over my tongue, ever since I learned the necessity of controlling my tongue. My week may be better. I hope to be happier this year than last year. Last year was very hard. I hope to be able to continue and be happier, even if it still has difficulties. Oh I forgot to mention, I got very sick this last Saturday. I had to go the hospital to get vitamins injected. I had a bad fever and I also have an infection in my throat. I have been taking three different types of pills for the last few days. I feel a lot better. The day I got sick I received a priesthood blessing and soon afterward felt better, but I was still weak for the majority of the day. Don´t you worry, I am well taken care of here.  I am still anxious to receive the [Christmas] package. Hopefully I will receive it soon. tchau 🎅