Montezuma visits, but only for a day

Alright it's still dry and hot here in Mexico. Where is the snow? Oh well, what to say? Thank you for the weather report, the sad thing is that’s the temp around noon; in the mornings it gets down to about ohh, I’d guess 40 or 50 and the same thing happens around 7 or 8 at night. Well not that fast but the temp starts to plunge instead of falling after about that time. So we had the sniffles the other day after we forgot our jackets the night before, and, yes, mom I can hear exactly what you are thinking desculpeme por favor.

Elder Bell and I are gonna use a member’s laptop in the chapel, its got wireless, lets see if you could be expecting a call around 4 that would be awesome! (We get to phone call or Skype twice a year with our missionary: at Christmas and again on Mother’s Day). It may be a few minutes later than that but I will be calling! Hmm, let’s see what you all wrote this week!? Please give a huge thank you to the Downs for me and also to Sis Hantz: muchas gracias mi amigos!

Let’s see: the way mail works for me here is like this: once it gets to the mission home, it gets distributed with all the other pouch mail to the zone leaders when they have meetings with the assistants; and the zone leaders give the pouch mail to the district leaders when they have their weekly meeting; and the district leaders hand out individual mail when they get it . . . Seeing as how its about a 3 1/2 hr bus ride from here to DF it'll get here eventually!

  

Glad to hear that even an old hand (like you), no pun intended, can shake in his boots. (I had written to Zach last week that I had the chance to teach in High Priest group lesson last week, and it made me pretty nervous!).

What else: congrats on the new bed Katie! I hope you like it! No cookies here but I have gotten to probar algun de los dulces aqui in mexico y yo quiero decir son muy bien y picante! [try some of the sweets here in mexico and I mean very good and spicy!]

Isaak: I was so excited to read your letter thank you for it. It’s wonderful to hear from you I’m glad your practicing with the hymnal, its fun to sing  and thank you for the story you sent me about the sheep.

Ian: who you calling old man??? Just kidding! I love you Ian I hope you have a good Christmas too!

If you can imagine an inverted triangle of raw meat on a spit which is rotating in front of a flame hot enough to keep it warm, that’s how they make tacos pastor. They reach up and slice off some of the meat and throw it on the grill (flies and all) but yeah, I’ve decided to blame my encounter with montezuma on those tacos! But he left after one day, so it wasn’t too bad. Good job on your pillow too!

I’m almost insulted: Mexico actually reminds me a lot of Missouri!

Vaya con Dios

Elder Zach Nelson

For a little culture of his new area, Elder Nelson and Elder Bell toured this gold mine during one of their P-days (preparation days). Too bad, he tells us they weren't handing out samples on the day they visited!

Hello from Mexico!!!!

Yo family what’s up?

If its real for you you’ve no idea how it feels for me! Anyways it’s been awesome I got here and had dinner with Presidente y la Hermana (President and Sister Villareall, they are in charge of the Missionaries), pancakes, go figure! Right but it’s probably the last time I’ll have pancakes in two years! Sorry about my typing, the keyboards are a bit weird here, well, odder than I’m used too. So let’s see I stayed Wednesday night in the mission home which is crazy like it could be in MTC cribs!

Mom would probably love it here everywhere I’ve been has tiled floors and backsplashes. It’s been awesome though, lets see what else: after we left the mission home we took a taxi to the bus terminal and then about an hour ride to Toluca and stayed the night with the elders in Xonacatlan (shaun-a-cat-lan). Then we had a meeting in which Elder and Sister Johnson from the Area 70 (other adult leaders in the Mexico City area) came and spoke to us. So we had to get up at 5:30 to shower, and then take 2 different busses to the chapel in Metepec. It’s the first chapel I’ve seen with an elevator. The meeting was really cool cause all of it was in Spanish and I could understand all of what was being said!

After the meeting we did an exchange and I went to another junta for investigators with some other elders in our zone while Elder Bell (my first companion and trainer. He’s from Provo, UT) went up to our area with another elder in our zone. They took up the luggage. Myself and another elder got a ride up with the Atlacomulco Bishop, which happens to be our area, so it was good. I had my

first street

tacos Saturday night in Independencia. I think its a collonia sobre toluca but yeah all the elders I’ve met have been awesome people! That reminds me: Elder Bell is almost ready to go home! Sounds fun right? He’s at 22 months and will be going home in February.

Hmm what else casi everyone here is nice and friendly as long as you don’t count the Catholic priest whose door we knocked on last night…he was a little mean. Here in Mexico, apparently, the Catholic Church gives out stickers to its members to put on their house: ESTE HOGAR ES CATOLICO. Or: this house is Catholic. We only met a few duros and beside that it was a good night last night we spent a few hours out tracting. Oh yeah only a few areas are bikers and one of those isn’t ours! So yeah lots of walking!! Glad I got some good shoes. Thank Joy for me please

HMM what are some cool stories? Elder Bell and I didn’t have anything to do the night before the meeting so we went tracting in Xonacatlan and well ….. wait I want to give you my live stock count so far: horses IN THE STREET BIENG RIDDEN 1;  sheep about 30; turkeys about 10; and dogs . . .  no sé muchos! perro haha see what I did there actually you might not in Spanish you can say but 2 ways para. . . excuse me three ways por para and pero the Spanish word for dog is perro okay hopefully now you get it! 

Anyways here are some rules that I’ve got to follow the secretaries took my mp3 and put it in a safe in the home I think no sé pero es no me importa and if I wanna listen to music I need to buy a walkman and speakers, it’ll be cheaper here so don’t even think about it!!!! If I want to write anyone outside of you, my immediate family I have to do it by hand the old fashioned way so I’ve asked Presidente if it’s all right for me to write to grandma no word yet. Umm according to Elder Bell I will get to Skype you all for Christmas and all that needs to be done is for you all to set up a Skype account for you and me and ´friend´ them with each other and send me the log in stuff. So yeah Katie and Charles, you need to get to work on that since you know . .. mom and dad MAY, no emphasis added . . . at all, need help with that.  And, oh yeah, you’ll probably need a webcam too.

That is something mom and dad can do! Everyone behave and keep up the good work! I’ve been hearing about Isaak: I’m so happy to hear that you’ve started to get down reading; and Katie if you can send me a sound clip from the choir concert or at least a pic of the ensemble, that would be great. But you can leave out the band and orchestra, since Charles isn’t in the orchestra yet.

I love you all and have to go!

Vaya con Dios

Elder Nelson

Here are some pics for you all

(Exciting for us, Zach finally sent some pictures. Here's some random pics from the MTC in Utah)

 Here's a map showing the Boise, Idaho mission area.

  A pic of the Provo, Utah temple, lit up at night.

 Zach will be in the area labeled 'Mexico City West' in this map. He will move around quite a bit within this area once he gets there.

 Snow-covered mountains in Utah.

 Missionaries pointing out their mission areas on a map at the MTC. Lucky Zach, he gets to point to two places.....

 Zach and his companions at the MTC in Provo.

Zach's companions in Boise, Idaho. The three of them will work together while Zach waits for this Mexican visa.

Hola de Boise Idaho!

So what up yall? As I said hello from Boise! What all’s going on there? Everything went fine at the airport on Monday, well . . .  almost . I think that I told you that most of my MTC district had left already, and that their were only 4 of us left to do anything at the MTC. Anyways we remnants of district 40A got travel plans Wednesday and that why I got to call again. Interesting thing was my buddies got to go to Mexico City and their planes took off at way different times than mine. One of them was supposed to leave at 5AM and the other 2 at 6AM and then I was supposed to leave at 8AM so we all did the logical thing and got up at 2:20 to shower and repack. Well I needed to repack at least and we wanted to see each other off.  Anyways apparently at 5 when I was repacking I shoved a gallon Ziploc of my shampoo, hair gel, sunscreen, and h2o2 in my carryon bag . . . . TSA didnt quite like that one! So just imagine me standing behind the tsa's checkpoint trying to get re- dressed after taking off my belt, boots emptying my pockets, todos! And this nice TSA lady comes up to me with my duffel bag in hand "elder is this yours?" "Yes 'mam" "You've got some oversized toiletries in this bag I need to check it do you mind if I do that?" Oh yeah I think I forgot to mention I didn’t remember putting them in there! Funny right?

So anyways she was really nice and we she started poppin off questions in Spanish which was cool cause I could understand her! Anyways she let me run back downstairs to the baggage claim to see if the agents there could put my Ziploc in my checked luggage. It took about, well it felt like, 20 minutes before the agents came back with one of my maletas and let me put my stuff in there, then they wheeled it back and I was able to run thru the employee line at security I felt special! [<-for some reason that doesn’t look right oh well es no me importa] Woaah I just slipped into Spanglish again! anyways once I got there I ran down one of the terminals looking for my gate so I wouldn’t be late . . . I ran down, all the way down, the wrong terminal, so yeah I had like 10 minutes b4 they started at my gate when I got there but no worries right mom?  [<-me gusta estos caras!]

So yeah that’s about all that I can think of right now. Cool thing about being in Boise I get an hour to write instead of 30 min like at the MTC. So I'm trying to think it over umm the  mission home address is 1111 S Cole road Boise, ID 83709. It’s in the LDS maps app on the LDS website um, yeah everything here’s cool and I’m loving it so far. I’ve got 2 awesome companions elder Navarrette and elder Figureoa. Yeah, I have fun trying to pronounce them. So far I’ve been a little off and on in understanding the members that we’ve taught but it hasn’t been that crazy yet. Yesterday was zone conference. Monday was p-day (preparation day) and today we had district meeting so its been awesome so far. The members have fed us each night and we’ve been able to get to know each other really well.

Elder N has been out 16 months last Monday and elder F is a native Chilean so yeah they’re helping me with my Spanish and I’ve had the opportunity to help elder F with his English. It’s awesome they are great elders who love teaching and are nuts but fun. If you could I'd appreciate you looking in my old journal  I think its the one with the smiley face on it, I was talking to elder N and turns out that his brother served in Columbia, MO a few years ago. and I can vaguely remember hanging around an elder that everyone called Nava but I’m curious if you would look in that journal and see if you could find the entries from my mini-mission. I’d appreciate it. President and Sister Cannon are awesome people and I can tell that I’m gonna love it here. Love all around

Vaya con Dios!

Elder Zach Nelson

Okay, Here Ya Go!

November 17, 2011

    Hope you all are home tonight I GET TO CALL HOME TONIGHT!!!! So yeah, I'll call you around 5:30 just like last time.

Vaya con dios!

(Yep,another phone call. STILL no visa to Mexico. Five minutes is still tooooo short! The mission leadership continues to be inspired....Elder Nelson is to be temporarily re-assigned to the Boise, Idaho mission until his visa is prepared. He flew to Boise today (Monday, Nov. 21). He will serve there until he leaves. Zach was relieved, as after 10 weeks at the MTC, instead of the originally scheduled 8, he was ready to go. According to the flight tracker, all was well in the air today. We are now awaiting contact from him, with an address! Dad)

Hola, again

November 16, 2011

We’re still in Utah?! no se para es no me importa! (Google translate kind of let us down on this one: it is not for me no matter)

So yeah, no news yet. If I do hear anything I’ll shoot you an email.  

            Oh by the way, this keyboard is completely messed up. I think that someone played with the coding and messed with it so if I miss any apostrophes I apologize.

Thank you for the package! Especially all the packing materials! Thank you for all the kisses they are wonderful! Thank you for thinking about the Christmas box could you possibly throw my Priesthood paperwork in with whatever else you decide to send along? Dad, I tried one of the teabags in my big St Mary’s cup and I think it diluted it too much so I’m gonna try the other bag in a smaller cup and let you know how it is. Oh, and so you know that ''chocolate'' you sent me, will soon be one its way home, I think the store mis-stocked it in the wrong aisle. It should have been in the baking section!

Mama {<- that’s Spanish!} Thank  you for the cool temple story but I think one of the pages was missing, It was really cool and I liked how the different 'facets' of the temple were expounded on. Thanks, too, for the quote from pres Houseman it was awesome!

Thank you for worrying about me getting cold but I got a sweet flannel purple checked shirt that keeps me pipin’ hot. NO I did not get to see Alyssa on my trip to Idaho, however I did give a nice Hindu man a copy of the Book of Mormon on my flight from Boise to Denver. Cool to hear about Elder White. If you get the chance give him a congratulations from me please :)

So how did Charles’ dual go? Hey you didn’t rip off any heads did you? Ian I’m sorry that I couldn’t get to hear you singing your song on the phone (Little brother Ian had been practicing to sing “I’ll Have a Blue Christmas Without You” to Zach during his five minute phone call earlier).  I hope you get better mom (she’s been sick). Just try to get some rest even if you’re not allowed to! haha What was that crack you made about not being able to gain weight supposed to mean?? Huh?! I mean the staff offered to give me a wheel barrow for my ''friend'' as they put it but hey you  know life happens!

Yeah we all heard about the elders who had an hour to pack they were on my floor of the residence hall. It was crazy! Interestingly the travel office seems to enjoy confusing people’s travel plans. Our Peruvian elder that’s been here forever got plans last week to be transferred to South Carolina temporarily until he can get his visa. So we looked at his travel plans and he was shocked to learn that his flight left from Salt Lake City International at 12:45 in the morning like dark AM. And we were told that he was gonna leave the MTC at 9 tonight to get to the airport! Well at choir practice last night, so like 6:10ish he got called to the travel office so he and his two companions (he’s been in three trios since he got here and all of them left before he did). Elder Gerlach and I didn’t see them until after dinner and we were in our way back to the gym for the devotional, 6:45ish, turns out that his flight left at 1245am today so he had 2 hours to get everything packed and to wash all his laundry. Thankfully he was in a trio so they were able to get everything packed up in time.

I love you all but I gotta go, as soon as I find the phone card AND I know when I’ll be at the airport I’ll call you and let you know what’s happening!!!

I love you all and thanks for everything you do!

Vaya Con Dios

Elder Zach Nelson

Lo antigua elder en La MTC (per Google translate: the former elder in the MTC)

ATTENTION!!!!!

November 10, 2011

I've been told by the travel office that I will be temporarily reassigned.
I don't know when or how long but, I have been given permission to make a five minute call home to tell you that.

So yeah I'm gonna call around 530ish that should be around 6 for you all.

Talk to you then :)

Z

(This was our first indication that there was still a snag with Zach's paperwork, and that his visa was still not ready. We learned that 5 minute phone calls are NOT very fun, as they last only........you guessed it! five minutes. It was good to hear from him, and to know that he was still keeping a cheerful outlook despite his frustration at the process. dad)

Yo, What's Up Everyone???

November 9, 2011

So yeah, no travel plans yet BUT I did talk to the ladies in the travel office and they said that I would probably be going back to Boise this Friday to get my visa worked out, and then it will be a straight shot to Mexico from there. Well as straight as you can get with airlines anyways ;).

Okay Katie thank you for the sweet stain remover, I'd put my shirts thru the dryer b4 I realized they were stained . . . It got out most all of the stains, all except for one REALLY dark spot that'll be fine to wear, everything is gone or so faintly grey that you can’t tell its there! :)))) I didn’t get that fat in the MTC but I have gained a few pounds, I weighed myself b4 gym yesterday and I weighed a whoppin' 196!! (cool huh! :) Anyways all’s good here. So far we've all begun to pack and get everything ready to go.

MOM . . . Mucho  Mucho Mucho Mucho Mucho Mucho Mucho Mucho Mucho Mucho Mucho Mucho Mucho Mucho Mucho Mucho Mucho Mucho Mucho Mucho Mucho Mucho Mucho Mucho Gusto (<- that means a lot ;) for the vacuum bags!! they work better than I could have dreamed. I've got my winter coat, most all my clothes, all of my slacks, extra socks, and I think that’s all I've got in them so far. Anyway I’ve used 2 bags and their like 4 inches high in my suitcase. My bag only weighs 31 lbs. crazy!! Either way It's pretty fun to watch . . . I might have opened them a few times just to watch them shrink when the air gets sucked out . . . . . . . . . It's really fun to watch   ( <-me gusta).

Thanks so much for the package! It was great to get and to hear some news. I loved the picture of Charle's football team , Garret looked a little constipated {C you might tell him to look a little less serious next year . . . Actually now that I look at it again you all looked a little constipated, I guess that's what winning feels like huh?  Luv you bud, good luck with wrestling. I loved it, even though I never seemed to win, keep me posted please! Dad, I’m assuming you sent me the newspaper clip about Mexico, thank you for it, it was very interesting to read.

It was awesome to here about Halloween at the home. I almost remember what that was like, it passed without any mention here (me gusta estes caras!)

Thank you for the Fart Balloons (whoopee cushions) as they are called, I love you Ian and Isaak! (one hug for each). Glad to hear that everything is going good there, and someone please wish Melena a late happy birthday for me. Thank you for the supplies! We were nearly starving, okay not really but the beef jerky was AMAZING!!! The chocolate on the other hand, I will warn you is on its way back to you, I tried it and it tasted like bakers chocolate, definitely not what I was expecting! Oh I don’t care how the duct tape looks, let the boys pick it out, but please do send it to Mexico not here, Provo. 

So did you ever figure out what happened with the roof in Charles room? Oh and yeah . . . . I heard about the tornadoes how close did they get to you all? And, Katie If your boss gives you any more trouble, I’ll just mail him a rabid . . . hmmm what could I mail him? I don’t know But I'll mail him something Mexican and rabid, since you know that anything with that combination will be intimidating and scary and worse . . . . . Mexican!

 I love you all And I’ll miss you.

 p.s. I had to get another haircut since I’m gonna be leaving soon my head feels naked :(

P.P.S  I'll send you a short email when I find out that I’m leaving!

Boise was a bust...

Okay so I got back from Boise late last night (Friday), I'll explain in a letter on pday. Bottom line: I didn't get my visa this time but I'll probably be going back to Boise this next week to get it.

All's okay here.

much love!!!

Vaya con dios

Headin' for Boise

8:46 a.m., 11/2/2011

"I'M GOING TO BOISE!!!"

So I have wanted to be able to say that a little!

Okay I don't have much time I was almost done writing my email to grandma in the laundry room when a voice from the heavens, with a thick Long Island accent, called me by name and called me to the travel office. Apparently they've been trying to get a hold of me for 2 days . . . . I am leaving the MTC at 1:30 today to fly to Boise so I can get to the Mexican consolate in Boise, odd place to have a consolate. Anyways I wanted to write more but I need to give the computer back to the sister I stole it from I'm flying up with 6 other elders and my bag I've got 2 nights in Boise then I come back on Friday.

Te amor & Vaya con Dios

Elder Zach Nelson

 

That same day, at 10:14 a.m.

Thanks for all the weather updates from Denver (David had written him several times while snowed in on a business trip there) :) It was fun to hope for a huge snow storm coming to the MTC! And really??! I love theVic, Love her to pieces but if she asked me for a new 'ring' that expensive (we made about $500 in repairs to the heater core so Zach’s sister would have heat this winter) I'd have to really think about it. I think it was a gggoooodddd IIIdddeeeaaa , I’m shivering just thinking about not having a heater in Januarys in Missouri.

WWWWWWOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH Charles good job on the gridiron bud I knew you could get through all those close calls!  Katie thank you for the letter I appreciate your wacky sense of humor and realized how much I miss tormenting/loving you, but mostly loving you!! ;) What happened at the fall choir concert it didn’t sound to good from your report. Anything by Al Green should bring in many people to your fundraiser! And to agree with your sad note about the temple: today is my pday (preparation day) and I would normally be going to the temple but as I wrote in the other letter I have to go to Boise instead. :( I did find some Mormon moments on the church  web and I think you should watch them they were about the Kyieve Ukraine, I think, temple and the Gila Valley temple being dedicated. YOU SHOULD DEFINETLEY TALK TO SOMEONE IN THE STAKE AND ASK IF THEY ARE DOING A YOUTH "PARTY”, I CANT REMEMBER THE WORD RIGHT NOW, THAT GOES FOR YOU TOO CHARLES IT WOULD BE AWESOME TO HEAR ABOUT IT!!!!!!

Okay dad I got another thing for you thank you for the quote from Michael Guevara and I think I’m studying a lil bit too much here because the first thing that came into my mind was the verse in D&C: seek not to teach my gospel but first seek to understand my gospel; then shall your mouth be opened for the understanding of men. Me gusta!! I don’t have much time but I'm gonna be writing you all letters while I’m on the plane about all the funny things we have done here.

Actually I want to do it now. Our first and most fun thing is "choholo los monos" which literally means crash the monkeys more or less. But fun story we learned that verb, chocar, from our teacher who got hit by a car while she was in a crosswalk at BYU. Crazy driver anyways she told us her story in Spanish so that’s how we got the verb, after that we went to chocolos pechos, chest bump to chocolos manos, fist bump, then someone knew the word for monkey .  . . Go figure! I still can’t figure out where they found it. so know when we go to gym we gather together someone yells chocolo los monos and we all act like were holding a monkey and do a few monkey "hoots", Yeah the MTC hasn’t gotten to me at all!! I’m not crazy I promise! I can still go to Mexico~!!! I just need to work on my typing apparently. More later as Elder Gerlach (his MTC companion) is trying to pull me away from the computer

te amor & vaya con dios!

Elder Zach Nelson!!!

Boise I can’t believe it!

 

Hola

¡Hola! everyone how are you doing? I´´ll open with a letter to grandma real quick then I´´ll get to your part,

Grandma, Thank you for the package it came as such a surprise! As always the cookies were much appreciated and all of my roommates loved the cookies and treats than you for sending them! I'm trying to find something to put in the tin before I send it back to you, I don't thnik that I could take it to Mexico. Seeing that tin again reminded me so much of all the time and love I felt at your house that I didn't want to risk taking it to Mexico with me. It's so odd to realize that I have less than 20 days before I go to Mexico or to parts unknown if I have trouble with my visa, but I  have my fingers crossed either way!

I Love you grandma, See you soon

Elder Zach Nelson

 

Thank you for the package it was a good surprise and as you can see it has been a fun week to receive them! The candy was awesome and the pillow cases are awesome, thank you very much for them!, Isaak I loved the leaves they reminded me of being at home and the squirrels loved your acorns! Now I don’t believe that it could have really been Ian on that baptismal program or else that lil hambone has grown more than seems possible!

Mom I love you. Any news on the Vic, I love that old girl but she is just that, an old girl, it's sad to say. (This refers to the car that he and his sister share)

How did Charles’ last game go? I can’t seem to remember hearing how it went. It's good to hear that Elder Markarian is on his way, I wonder who he is supposed to teach in Illinois. Oh and thanks for that quote I appreciate it and I like it.

Dad thanks for the poster, it was good to I love the story about the piñata's but what’s so important about Dec. 11 & 12, and why is one of their chapels shaped like a sombrero? Okay I want a serape! I can imagine that doing a hat dance would have been more fun if you and mom had been there to dance but it would have been even better if I could have been there to applaud your dancing!!! Good to hear that that gutter finally got fixed, just in time for winter right?! Why did you have to go and mention pizza night in your letter? The closest, and by that I mean the farthest,  thing we get here is when the cooks take a day off and order like 600 pizzas from papa johns, its passable but come sadly far from the mark that you set! HeHe please forgive me for smiling over the router incident, (our wireless router went down, and David had to fix it by himself, with no Zach here to help him!) but I do miss being able to work with those kind of things.

I’m trying to think of anything else fun to write I've 3 got 7 min left . . . . This week our district decided to really get into SYL, or for us HSI, That’s really about it. We had a really good fireside on Sunday and a really good devotional last night , we sang as the choir ‘Precious Savior Dear Redeemer’ and it was amazing!!!!!! We had a crescendo to a dissonant chord that just shook the house with the overtones and I will not believe that anyone DIDNT have goose bumps, sigh, it was amazing. And then something one of the speakers said last night really got to me!

I know that I am here for the right reason, whatever it may be and I know that this is where the lord wants me to be!

Yo se que esta aqui por en el idea correcto y yo no se que eso idea es, pero yo se que el Dios quiere que esta aqui!

yo tengo muchos amor por ellos

Elder Zach Nelson

ps I’m putting the pictures in the mail today sorry to keep you on your toes for so long

pps I realized today that i have less than 20 days until i go to parts unknown!

Y por mi familia

thank you for helping me with these letters for grandma i really appreciate it! (We have discovered he can email us a letter to grandma, and we can forward it to her great neighbors in St Joseph, who will print it out and get it to her, thus saving him stamps!)

I really miss the Ole' Missouri storms even though they are dark and gloomy, besides the time it snowed, not a single cloud has dared to show it's face since I got here!!! they haven't even spit on us! I'll keep an eye peeled for the package (yes, a 3rd!) thank you for giving me a heads up about it! And, mailing stuff to Mexico already (some with elders already down there have suggested it's time to go ahead and mail Christmas packages at it can take a month or longer to arrive) that sounds crazy, I hope that it doesn't take that long to send packages to Mexico. Thinking about that blog reminded me that i thought I saw an Elder Peacock name tag somewhere in the residence hall's I'll try to see if i can figure anything out! :) CHARLES I'M ROOTIN' FOR YOU AND YOUR TEAM TONIGHT!!! Since you mentioned the shoe trees E. Gerlach has some of those and he heard the same thing as you from the person who sold him his shoes. so far though my shoes are handling everything that i can throw at them.

 

Dad, I hadn't realized that I had sent the email to Mom (he forgot to CC me on the email last week!), but since you mentioned it, It may happen more often. I've got some pics that I'm going to try to get in the mail today or tomorrow hopefully they can get to the house before dad's gone if not you can all tell him about them!! :) Sorry about the bad punctuation/ grammar, Cindy would likely kill me! that reminds me that there are about 15 Finland bound missionaries that i have gym time with what part did she serve in and what part did/do ( i cant remember) Jonnis parents live in? Anyways 30 min isn't much time to type a letter and answer all of your questions and write you about how life's goin' :( I cant wait for the spot remover, it will be well used I can tell you that! However it shouldn't be too much of a problem since it is now "cold" weather here at the MTC (it's still around the low 70's during the day, as long as the sun is over the mountains otherwise everyones breath is frosted and there is hoarfrost on the bushes!) and they've" winterized" the buildings (aka the furnaces are on) our sacrament meeting/ chapel/ priesthood room was 95 degrees F on Sunday, and then on Sunday night the gym was at least that hot for the fireside when everyones was sitting in the same room!! Thankfully Pres. Brown allowed all of us Elders to take off our suit coats, it was a sweet relief! Oh and they've begun to put up Christmas lights around the campus its pretty fun too look at but none of them are on yet.

 

It's good to hear that mom's leg is getting better and that everyone is doing well. Ummm. . . . .I'm trying to think of anything that would be "newsworthy" too of the residence halls are being renovated so every room on our floor has 3 bunk beds in them now and 6 elders a piece! it's really only a Lil annoying in the morning  . . . . waiting in line for the showers!

Oh something else you might like is that last night's devotional speaker was Elder Richard G Scott Its was pretty cool to hear what he had to say, I think that my favorite thing was when he admonished all of us to look to the sisters for an example and to follow their lead in how they quietly consider them. I don't have any sisters in my district so I'm trying to remember all of the times that mom and Kaitlyn set a good example for me . . . . it's a lil difficult (sorry i couldn't resist :P) besides that I don't think that I have much to report on I gotta get back to the residence hall and change so I can get to the temple on time

 

Vaya Con Dios,

Yo Tengo mucho amor por cada ustedes,

Elder Zach Nelsno

Week #4

Glad to hear about your bike ride I miss that trail more than i thought possible! As for soccer it's been a little too chilly as of late, since it snowed last week (reference: snow in the first of October!) everythings been in the 70's so mostly we play volleyball or workout in the gym. but it's nice to be able to look at snow covered mountains, even though the closets one is Mt. Timpanogas.Thank you for the making a trip to the bank, however you shouldn't be using that money that is what i worked two years for, please save your money to raise that army of your's! :) It's good to hear that Katie's challenging herself at school, it's the best way to learn, I've found. Considering that we study/ do classwork for ~30 hours a week it's a big factor in how well we learn.Thank you for the shirts : | Why did you buy new ones??  (Because the cuffs of his old ones wouldn't come clean due to all the ground in movie-theater butter from work on his old ones!) How's your season going Charles, it's gonna start winding down soon what are your plans for after that?

Glad to hear that everything went good for mom!!Mucho Mucho amor por usted mi madre amado.

On the topic of shirts again ,could you do me the favor of putting together a list of things that may be used to remove different types of stains? I've already put a few different of your knowledgeable steps to good use so thank you for tutoring me in  the art of laundering! Not that laundry brought this to the top of my mind but Sister/President Julie B. Beck came to the MTC and spoke to us last night it was amazing, and most of us agreed that because of her we now have a much greater respect for the sisters that speak during conference because of her.

 

On The matter of my Travel plans i checked with the travel desk last week, I think, and they said that they had shipped my information off to Mexico to be completed there, SCORE!!!!!!!. and it is to my understanding that I am allowed to call you when i receive my travel plans and let you know whats happening.thank you for the quote dad~!. and mom i would love to get some names to take to the temple anything you need i could do. Last week one of the other Elders went to the Temple with me its was amazing: they were having trouble with some pronunciations of about 10 or 15 names from the Oaxacca area of Mexico, so I got to help with that! 

I love you all lots, Vaya Con Dios!!!

Elder Zachary Nelson

 

P.S. Ian be watching the mail!

Week #3!

Okay so first i wanna get to the goat thing that dad asked me about , from El Magueys(Millie and I had gone out to lunch at a local Mexican place, and asked Z about a poster we saw that had a baby and a soccer ball, and words our Google translator translated as 'goat birth'), So between my buddies and I we Talked it over and used our (trumpet fanfare please!) dictionaries to look it up. The first definition provided for each word ''chiva'' and ''nacimiento'' were respectively goat and birth. however when we kept looking through the other definitions we found out that chiva can mean birth and that nacimiento can mean something like from the beginning or a weeks pay [Yo no tengo mi diccionario ahora] so we decided that it may be a Spanish idiom that means along the lines of ''We work for our check from the time we are born'', referencing how popular and rich the soccer industry is in Mexico. However I'm not sure.

 

So to answer ustedes preguntas: sorry about the green letter I thought I asked the lady at the mail counter to mail it to you but maybe not, I'll send it with a few extra next time, porque I need to send you a photo copy of my signed passport. kinda creepy to hear about the camera crews creeping around campus (we watched a documentary about the MTC between conference sessions) , we haven't seen anyone around, do you remember which buildings they toured or when? Yes conference was awesome but I think my favorite was Elder J Davn Kornish, the fried chicken talk. It made me laugh and helped me see how we can turn to God for the little things. 

 

I got my package Monday (yes, another one!) thank you for sending it. So far I've managed to not eat all of the chocolate , it''s amazing!, and como en el mundo did you have to mention home cookin' in your email, that torture I don't know if I can stand it again :)))) joke It is good to hear that good food still exists en el mundo!  The topic of sisters (female missionaries are referred to as 'Sisters') has come up many times in our district, and we are all in agreement, it's a good thing that there aren't any in ours. We all love the sisters as . . . well as sisters, but we don't think we'd ever learn any Spanish . . . let alone doctrine principles :) Ii didn't know that one of he Hansens sons had gone to Mexico on his mission, it 'll be cool to hear about it.

 

Mom it's good to hear that uncle Jim is getting into his new job in ironton/fredricktown/southwestmissouriville I don't recall where it is so <- that should cover it :) please tell Ian and the boys that you are all in my dreams, and I can't wait to get to see them. I can't believe Ian is going to be baptized this Saturday. I'm Trying to scrounge something together for him I'll try to get it in the mail but no guarantees on when it will get there. Since I got here three weeks ago (crazy to think of by itself!, time goes way too fast here) the temperature has dropped a few degrees every day, soon we'll all be in our jackets! burr. And your darn tootin your gonna let me know how your op goes!!!!! Thank you for sending the bucket cash it may be needed, eventually, I already tried the pizza's and sadly they are under par. Good to hear about your teaching contracts how are you gonna deal with so much scheduling? Speaking of which good luck and congrats on the fed appointtment!Now how come I never could get out of school for a Rt 44, that screams of favoritism!!!! | -) JK. Good to hear about the BOA stuff, hey speaking of which can you please send me a copy of my account log in , I cant remember it and would like to know what I got. General conference was awesome here, btw hows Joy doing? I can't thank you enough for the Bishop Walker quote If you got anymore please send them, but not all at once, I love how goofy they are and how wise they are at the same time.

Well I got 3 mins left on my timer so I'll wrap up by asking if it would be possible to send me one of my old long sleeve shirts, I need to wear one far too often here and it gets kinda stinky. I don't need a new one one of my old ones will do. I'm gonna send some letters home for the kids

 

Yo Tengo Mucho amor por ustedes y, vaya con Dios

love EZ Nelson

Week #2

(We sent a 'care' package with cash and a few things for Zach) Thanks for the cash that came with my passport, which by the way arrived the Monday after you sent it. I've been able to get a pretty cool mission shirt and a mini binder to help keep my organized, no jokes needed from the peanut gallery if you please :P. Sorry to hear about your quiet lunches, but I hear that state workers get pretty easy work days anyways! As for the tandem ( two-seater bike project we started right before he left) I say go for it. I think It'll be a sweet road rider for you and mom!

You Mentioned that the neighbors SUV was gone sorry to hear it, but have you tried adding some more leak stop to the radiator(you probably have, but I wanted to throw in my two cents). Glad to hear that Charles Eagle project is moving along, got any new pics yet? Sadly there will not be an MTC priesthood choir performing, or they won't be from the Provo MTC if there is.

However, Singing in the Tuesday Night Devotionals has turned into something everyone from our district now does and its pretty cool.I think the choir is probably 250-400 strong , if you can find a picture of the gym when its set up for a devo we usually take up the 3 'stage left;' sections. It's an awesome sound to hear. I still think it was hilarious, our choir master usually has some little scriptural reference that he shares with us each time we practice and the few I've heard so far have been pretty sweet. But, He also did something that Mrs.Dampf (our awesome JCHS Choir instructor) would love:  we were singing our first opening hymn, we usually sing 3 of them, and it was #223 'Have I Done Any Good?" which is a pretty cool song. He CUT US OFF , The Whole Congregation of about 2000!, and said , and I quote" Elders and Sisters You all have lovely voices but there is not a fermata on that hymn, it just cuts off, now watch me closely when we get to that spot again please, thank you." O O

I couldn't believe that he did that! It was pretty Cool though. So how did Charles OA campout Go? I think That I Mentioned It To The Boys but We nuke the pizzas when we get them out of the machines. You Don't Need to Put anyone on ramen and water for my sake I eat enough of that here :(  It was Pretty Sweet to hear that Charles is on starting teams now, how long have they been undefeated? It was sad to hear about the washer breaking but I'm More Amazed That the DRYER is Still Working! I'm Also not surprised To Here That Katie Made Cakes For Psych , Gotta use those Talents, Plus her project won't be staring at her for the next couple of years . . . every time she wakes up in the night to use the lou! but I'm Curious how did they taste? :))

I just hope Ian slows down on the tires (we've replaced a tube already, and patched it twice) or you may need to consider taking out stock in the company!. The money in my jar . . . . use it to pay for the washer or something, its change and tips That I got From working At the Theatre. Buena suerta a usted!! on the parole Board, I'll be saying prayers, In SPANISH!!! and about Elder Markarian laying it on thick . . . . is that very Surprising? [:P <--- at E. Markarian]

Have you ever heard of a family named 'Meator' or something phonetically similar? I keep running into an elder with this name he's in my zone, hes from the Independence stake and we recognized each other as familiar when we saw each other, he looks an awful lot like he might be related to the Walkers. Well I don't have any more time 35 secs and counting b4 it boots me out Hugs and kisses BYE

Vaya con dios

EZN

The First Week

(Here is our first email from Zach, he's been at the MTC one week. My comments or additions will be in parenthesis)

Well the first week has been a good one! Please forgive me for lack of proper English punctuation, I only have 17 minutes left to... scratch that, I've only got 14 minutes left on the computer and then I'll get booted out of my email. (Computer access is limited at the MTC due to the high number of missionaries waiting their turn, and so that the computer doesn't become a distraction to their studies)

The first day was really cool, we had to drop everything off at our residences, NOT DORMS, we can't call them that; the buildings have been set apart for the training of missionaries, and then all ~400 of us 'dotters' (newly arrived missionaries get a dot on their nametags) got all of our materials and were forced to walk around the campus, arms full of books, until we found our class rooms. Then we spent 2 hours learning Spanish. After that we had dinner and then we all went into a huge meeting room and were introduced by country/state of origin. It was cool, there were a few from Missouri and of course half the room stood when Utah was called. Elder Gerlach (he is Zach's MTC companion) and I are becoming better friends and companions and we both are struggling to learn Spanish. Mom as it turns our we may be related, since you printed me a 5-gen chart instead of a 4 we found that #55 C D B S Gerlach could be a relation to his great grandfather from Prusssia.  I'll have to send you his name soon, like before you fly back here to get it. I luv you mom.

Beyond that there isn't too much to talk about, we eat three square meals a day and have gym time for an hour everyday except pday (preparation day, Zach's p-day while at the MTC is Wednesday) and Sundays. We spend about 7 hours a day learning Spanish so I could probably out quiz Katie after 5 days! It really wipes you out though. If you could send me some envelopes and my black shin guards I would appreciate it. I had to get a Tdap Booster when I went through the immunization line so I'm sending an insurance claim form that they gave me. I'm betting that they won't pay it though because the church wants missionaries vaccinated every 5 yrs and the standard for that vaccine is 10 years. But just in case: we're blessed.

I'm gonna send you part of the pictures that I've taken and before I get kicked off, Dad do you remember who we ran into when we went to the temple  in St. Louis? I do his name is Cameron Hendricks and he is one of the 11 elders in my district (at the MTC the missionaries are organized into smaller, organized groups called Districts. Members of the district will follow similar schedules and meet together for classes), no one else in my district is going to Mexico-West.

hasta luega y vaya con dios

EZN

MTC, Branch #40

Dad, Zach and Mom in front of the Provo, UT Temple

Here's Zach's first letter to us from the MTC. It's a kind of form letter that he filled in the blanks and sent to us, with a note at the end:
Branch 40
Branch President: President Mortensen
1st Counselor: Brother Evans
2nd Counselor: Brother Russon
My companion's name is: Elder Gerlach
My companion is from: Campis, Utah
My address is: 2005 North 900 East, Provo, UT 84604
My mail box # is: 278
My Preparation Day is Wednesday (the only day I can write/email)
Quick note to family: Well, its' been fast! I got here and went straight into tours, firesides and meetings. I was getting tired and looked at my watch and it was only 3:15!! (We had dropped him off at 12 noon that day) But it was a very fun time and continues to be. The residence halls are actually pretty cool; we sleep four to a room in two bunks, huge banyos (bathrooms). And the coolest thing is a few vending machines one of which dispenses frozen pizzas and ice cream and any other cold snack you can think of.
My ensanaza (teacher?) is Hna. Breedlove; she served 20 months in Panama. It's an emersion class so we are all communicating through charades for now. We're going to teach an investigator, in Spanish, tomorrow morning.
Vaya con Dios, con amor
E.Z. Nelson
p.s. Any news on my passport? (it's back, fixed and has already been sent out)
(Also: www.dearelder.com is a great way to email a written letter to a missionary. There is no charge and your missionary will receive a printed copy, delivered to his mailbox at the MTC the same day you write.)

At the MTC!

FINALLY! The day Zach thought would never arrive. After spending the morning at the Provo Temple, we had him at the MTC right on time for his 12 noon report time. We had been properly prepared by our friends here in Sandy, and by others who have recently dropped off missionaries at the MTC. It was a quick at the curb, let us help with your luggage, take a few minutes for pictures and good-byes, he walks one way while we try to drive another with tears in our eyes!
He is excited about his mission, and to finally be underway.
Meanwhile, back on the homefront, good news! Grandma Nelson reports the new passport has arrived, and is in Jeff City waiting for us to forward it on to the MTC.
For those of you interested in writing to Zach, his address at the MTC is:

Elder Zachary Nelson
Box 278
Mex-MexW 11/14
2005 North 900 East
Provo, Utah 84604-1793

He'll be at the MTC until his departure for Mexico City, which should take place on Nov. 14, as long as his visas and travel permits are approved.
While at the MTC, he will be working on learning Spanish and learning the missionary lessons and practice teaching the gospel principles he will be sharing with others while on his mission.
Viya con Dios!

Headed for Provo and the MTC!

This morning marks the official first day of Zach's mission. We will drop him off at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) where he will begin his missionary training. The MTC is set up similar to a college campus with dorms, cafeterias and everything necessary to prepare missionaries for their service around the world. He will study with other missionaries, attend Spanish language classes (so much for all that French in high school!) and learn from the instructors about what to expect during mission life, many of whom are returned missionaries themselves.
In the good ole days, parents parked and walked their missionary into the MTC for a brief church service and farewell, with the chance to say goodbyes. With the on-set of the flu epidemic several years ago, the procedure was changed and now missionaries are dropped off curbside, after a few minutes to say good bye. Many we have talked to here who have dropped off Missionaries under both the old and new systems, prefer the new.
We've prepared, we've prayed (and I've shed a few tears already) and think we are as ready, and Zach is as ready as he can be. After a visit to the Provo Temple later on this morning, our Missionary will report to begin his labors. Mom and I have filled his suitcases with stamps and postcards, and his Uncle Ken and Aunt Patty made sure he had a supply of paper and envelopes. There's no excuse for not writing!
Today also marks the change over for this blog. It will no longer be a travelog of our adventures in Utah pre-mission. Once Zach reports, his mind, energies and efforts will be on his mission. As he writes and emails us, I will share his thoughts with you here.
A father's parting advice to his Mission-bound son: Know the people. Serve the people. Love the people!

Vaya con Dios a mi hijo. Te amamos y sabemos que va a hacer bien!

Bells Canyon and Final Preparations!

Tuesday was an all-around great day. Zach was the navigator and we let him set the course (and the pace) for what the day would hold. We packed lunches and headed out to the Bells Canyon Reservoir and the waterfalls that we had heard were above it. What a beautiful day for a hike!
The weather was perfect, our attitudes were in tune and off we went. In Utah, most of the hikes go up, so we had quite a few switchbacks as we gained altitude. This hike may seem tame to native Utahns, but to us it required a bit of effort. Once we made it to the reservoir, our efforts were rewarded!

Bells Canyon Reservoir

From the reservoir upward, the trail opened up for a while, but then turned upward and was strewn with more and more boulders, kind a mini-Elephant Rocks in many places, for those of you familiar with our park in Missouri. In many places we were right next to the stream that feeds into the reservoir, and its many riffles and waterfalls. Millie picked out a nice spot for lunch that had a great view, and then we headed back down.
We stopped back at FOB Westfall to check in before heading out to the Bingham Canyon Copper Mine. It's the largest of its kind in the world. It is a pit mine in operation since the earliest of the pioneer days, and the pit is large is enough it can be located in pictures of the earth taken by satellite. The driveway from the entrance gate to the mine itself is 6 miles long!

The open-pit mine

One of the interesting things we learned here was that Kennecott (the mining company) donated the minerals that made the gold, sliver and bronze metals for the Utah Winter Olympics, making the Utah games the first ever to have the medals made from minerals mined at the game sites.
From there it was a great meal at Cafe Rio, the best Mexican we've discovered in Utah, and a late night of preparations, laundry and packing and re-packing....tomorrow we're off to Provo.
Was a touching night to watch as Zach made phone calls to Kaitlyn, Charles, Ian and Isaak. As they will be at school tomorrow when we head out, this was Zach's last time talking to them on the phone til Christmas (as Missionaries are called to serve and commit to focus on the missionary work, they do so free of distractions from their labors. Phone calls home are twice a year: at Christmas time and on Mother's Day. We've talked and prayed about this, and are committed to helping our Missionary serve with honor!) We're not sure that Ian and Isaak really get it, but we have told them Zach will be gone and on a mission, and won't be coming home with us.
Millie and I have helped prepare him all we can, and he's continuing to be blessed from his decisions.
Tomorrow: to Provo!
Via con Dios

In and around Temple Square

Monday, September 12 was a day of adventure all around. Mom spent the biggest part of the day at the Family History Library. Dad tried, but the one roll of microfilm he needed about Denmark was apparently in use by someone else, as none of the Librarians could find it!
So, as a result, dad and Zach spend the day on tour. we discovered; the Church History Museum, the Church Archives and the garden on top of the new conference center. All were amazing!
Some of the things we learned:
The conference center will seat 21,000 people, and has been designed so that everyone can exit the building in a 15 minute time period;
The church archives are set up to provide secure storage of the church's important books, documents and films...for example: people have donated their pioneer families' journals, and they are all available for research by anyone who has the interest! It's set up as a giant research library. You ask for what you need, a librarian retrieves it and brings it to you. Zach's favorite was a 1600s Bible, all in the King's English, which was full of charts and graphs about how the ancient Priests determined when Easter should be. As it was all in Roman numerals, he tried to calculate next Easter to see if it would be held on the proper day!
We all enjoyed the church history museum with its artifacts, Utah history and all the different time periods of the church.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) will be our last day as tourists....Zach reports to the MTC on Wednesday.
Via con Dios!

Provo Canyon

We continue to play tourist!
Yesterday we headed south from FOB Westfall to Provo for a walk around of the BYU campus, a drive past the MTC to see Zach's future home and to begin to try and get a 'feel' for what Zach's time at the MTC will be like. Looked similar to a community college campus, adjacent to BYU. It's right across the street from the Provo Temple. After a fun morning on campus, we headed back to the northeast for a drive up Provo canyon and to see Bridal Veil Falls.

Zach and Millie at the Falls.

It was a great little hike, but almost straight up! From the Falls we continued up and through the canyon, stopped at Sundance for a look around (the lifts were closed due to lightning) and then past the Deer Creek

The mountains here are awesome

Reservoir and through Heber City on our way to Park City. All the rides were closed due to a light rain that had fallen earlier, but we were able to view some of the freestyle skiers as they practiced their aerial jumps and flips before landing in a big swimming pool at the bottom of the ski jump.
A great day ended on a down note, however as BYU, Utah and Mizzou all three lost their football games yesterday.
Kind of looking forward to Sunday being our day of rest. Heading to the church genealogy library on Monday to see what new info we can find out about our ancestors!
Via con dios!

MTC or bust......

The Salt Lake City, Utah Temple

FYI: this is David, checking in from Sandy, Utah. For the next five days, Zach and I both will be the official 'webmasters' of his mission blog. Then, once he enters the MTC, he will yield those responsibilities to me so that he can focus on his studies, and the need to learn important Spanish, like 'donde est la banio?. As his Spanish is already way better than mine, I think he will do alright.
We landed in Salt Lake City Thursday afternoon, and have been the penultimate tourists ever since. We've been to: both Temple and Welfare Squares, the conference center, the tabernacle to watch the mo-tab choir practice, the Salt Lake temple, a couple of visitor's centers, Mr. Mac's (a thank you shout out to one of our new best friends Trevor...if you have any clothing needs, look him up at the Mr. Mac closest to Sandy, off of Redwood and he will hook you up!), the Red Iguana, the Old Spaghetti Factory and a couple of DI stores.

To Millie's pals at Columbia College: here's a pic

of her performing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir!

Have to take a minute here and share a heartfelt thank you to our host family, the Westfalls. We first met Elder Westfall when he was one of 'our' missionaries in Jefferson City. After enjoying him on his labors in central Missouri, and at his release at the end of his mission, he brought his family to Missouri on a tour of the places he had served. That, of course, included spending some time with the 7Nelsons gang, and  a new family friendship was born! Fast forward a couple of months, and when they found out Zach had received his call and we were coming to Utah, they invited us to stay with them. so, in a way we're now at FOB Westfall enjoying their wonderful hospitality, Sister Westfall's culinary talents, and trying to take in all Utah and beautiful Wasatch front has to offer.
We'll be off to Provo today to get a peek at the BYU campus and scout out the MTC for our Wednesday drop off. Millie has about had her fill of Utah Ute red (sorry Br. Mack) and needs to get back in the blue! There's possibly some biking and hiking trails in our near future -- so stay tuned!
Grandma Nelson is minding the home fires and the 4Nelsons left in Jefferson City. She's doing a fabulous job, the kids are happy and homework is getting done. All is well.
Back to the serious side of things: our time at the Salt Lake temple yesterday was an experience I could not have imagined. To be in that historic structure, enjoying all it represents while knowing the huge sacrifice that so many made so long ago so that I could enjoy it today is difficult to put into words. Millie says it is now her 'new favorite' temple....but she seems to say that each time we discover another one.
TTFN....or in the words of our new favorite elder: vaya con dios!

A Rocky Road

Well I've been saying goodbyes and giving hugs, all while trying to stay dry amidst the tears of others. I've only had a little trouble trying to fit my bedroom into 2 suitcases,unfortunately it didn't work :( , but with help from my mom I think I fit everything in. All seemed to be going well until I found my passport card in my paperwork, and noticed a little flaw in the spelling . . . of my name, And since I shipped my passport to Utah, for my Mexican visa to be processed, we had to find out if it was also incorrect on my passport book (it was). So, my parents and I had to wait for Labor Day to end so we could call the appropriate peoples to get this sorted out. So far the outlook is decent, the people in Utah are going to overnight my book to me so I can get all of my paperwork together and I'll overnight it to the State Dept. to have a new Passport Book and Visa issued to me. The only problem with that is my new book and card will have new ID #'s on them. So the whole process of my Mexican visa application will have to be repeated. Which means that I probably won't get to Mexico by Thanksgiving . . . or Christmas. Either way it'll be a great experience, one I'm already learning from: i.e. double check documents before you submit them, and know how to spell your own name.

Until we meet again Via Con Dios,
E.Z. Nelson