hello everyone!?

so i bet you are all wondering where my email has been? cuz i usually do email in the morning, and you would receive it in the evening. but this morning, we went to a volcano, and it was quite a ways a way. so we woke up at 5 and left at 530 to travel to get there. so we get to burauen, a city, and from there we had to take motorcylces for one hour to get there. and let me tell you...i thought i'd never get close to going dirt biking for 2 years...i was wrong. haha so me, elder coontz and elder andrus and one filipino, got on a motorcycle, and headed for the volcano..and the roads....were NOT paved!! it was just dirt!! and a ton of rocks...i was really impressed, cuz this filipino had 3 heavy americans on the back and we were doing some pretty steep hill climbing. it was pretty similar to dirt biking except there were 4 ppl on the bike. it def. wasn't that comfy tho.haha so that was sweet...well not sweet, cuz 4 people don't fit on a motorcycle...so we were pretty crammed on there. so the view...was so beautiful! i'll try and send some pictures! so we climbed to the top of the volcano...well we climbed as high as we could...it was basically a mountain..with hot springs.. we didn'tget high enough to see the whole. but we did get to a part that had steam coming out of rocks..itsreally hot fyi. hahaa and from the top, the view was so beautiful! and guess who's camera died when we got to the top!? Mine!! ugh, but it was cool, and it was fun to get together with AMERICANS!! i miss americans. cuz in my area its just me and elder allanic. and even tho i love him, and enjoy being his companion, americans and filipinos have a big difference. so it was fun to hang out with them.and speak English!! and i am supper sunburnt now.

so also this week, was our first convert baptism! sister Ailene Gura was baptized. and i baptized her in the river. the water here is always the perfect temperature! itdfeelso good to go swimming, but i won't. don't worry! then afterwards she bore her testimony. and i was so happy that she has a testimony and has chosen to be baptized! and we confirmed her yesterday. it was awesome! and we had another baptismal interveiw yesterday too, and she'll be baptized on saturday too! so thats awesome! 

also this week, we had zone conference, for the 1st time. and we had a general authority come to it! elder ardern from the quorem of the 70. and it was such a good day! and it was fun to meet with all the missionaries. there was probably 4 zones that attended. and then after the meeting or training, president andaya got up and said, elder ardern would like to interview elder allanic's companion ship.....thats my companion. so he wanted to interview us..he interviewed us as a companionship.. so we went into the bishops office, and he just talked to us. he talked to me about enduring thru the hard times, and when you look back, you'll see how much you have learned and grown from that experience. he also asked how our companionship was, and we told him that it was good. elder allanic had a hard time understanding him cuz he speaks englishso i had to translate for him. he also talked to elder allanic about his family back home...elder allanic's family aren't members yet..just his dad and brother. and they joined the church whilehe was on his mission. so he talked to him about that. but what was cool, was how he listened to the spirit and just talked to us about our individual needs/concerns or trials. cuz for me, when he was talking to me about enduring, that was somethingthat was just for me..and i needed to hear that, and was something that applied to me. then he asked if there was anything that he could do for us..so i asked, elder ardern, "do you mind telling us what the purpose of this interview was?" cuz it was out of the blue, and i had no idea why he wanted to interview us..i had so many thoughts running thru my head like...maybe im getting a new mission call..or am i in trouble??i haven't done anything wrong...so i had all sorts of those things going thru my head. so he just simply said, "as i sit up there on the stand, i ask the lord who he would like me to talk to, and i saw your face (my face) and i felt that i should interview/talk to both of you. as a general authority,i try to interview the missionaries as companionships."so thats why he interview us, he also talked to us about leadership. he said that we'll both be really good leaders some day. and talked about being a trainer. and said that is one of the most special calling to receive is to be a trainer.  and just said that we'll both be/andare really good missionaries. and he just said alot of nice and encouraging things to us.so that was a good experience. and i learned alot that day, zone conference is so fun!! :)

also this week, one of the sisters in our branch knows elder peters!! so kelsey, or dad,passthis along to nate! she said that elder peters and elder clark gave her dad a blessing in Alang Alang (city) in the alangX2 branch. and his name (the one that received the blessing) is leo Ibanez. and her name was Nesi Ibanez. there was two sisters with her too..sisters Geskin and sister Landao. so pass this onto to nate. i was supper excited when i heardthat. she was like, oh i know an elder from Boise...elder peters! so that was awesome!

well, time it flying by. the days are starting to go by supper fast. and its almost transfer day! its gone by so fast! transfer day is like christmas...you never know what your gonna get..either i transfer or he stransfer, or new zone mates or district mates, or no change at all. but im excited, but i hope and pray that it'll be a good transfer! i am loving it here, and love the mission. im having a great time! thanks for all your prayers and support and emails. sorry if this is so random but i don't have a lot of time. but know that i love you, and i knowthe church is true!

i love you!

love,elder nelson