Nelson Family Newsletter 2014

NEWSLETTER 2014

Family News Bill/Rick & Christine. We hope this letter finds you well. We’ve had another busy year, which included road trips, board meetings, teaching the Missionary Preparation class in the Stake (we love it), and  both working in Young Women and Young Men in the Ward. We’re even planning on trying out our scuba diving skills again in February—our 19th annual trip. The grandchild count is up to 30, going on 31 in January.

New Knee. Rick’s new knee is working well. He went to his doctor for the final check-up in November and passed with flying colors. Along with his previous ACL and shoulder replacements, he is well on his way to becoming a new man.

Recipe Book. Christine (incredibly) brought herself a COOK BOOK! It first came out in 1850 and sold 2,000,000 copies. Interestingly, the author actually had an aversion to the kitchen in general and cooking specifically, claiming that some foods were actually fatal. This theory coincided exactly with Christine’s feelings.

New York. We made it to New York this year—Manhattan. It brought back great memories. We had a pedometer which counted our steps and kept track of the distance we walked. Rick still jogs, so it was no big deal for him, but Christine was clocked walking over 40 miles in six days (remember her admonition—”If you ever see me walking, stop and pick me up—something has gone wrong”).

    

KID REPORT  (Unbelievably  for us, some of our “kids” are now in their 40’s.)

Ryan & Sarah (Salt Lake—4 kids). Sarah still runs, Ryan rides bikes, and  the kids play soccer and  basketball, dance, swim, and shop (Katie’s love). Anna and Tommy  were both awarded “Swimmer of the Week” the same week.

Jane (4 years), having just driven from California to Utah, and, contemplating the 6-hour trip to Redfish Lake, Idaho the next day, dropped her head and sighed, “I just can’t live like this any more.”

Brooke and Dan (Minnesota—5 kids). The highlight of their year was living in Switzerland and Germany for three months last summer. Dan was going to have to spend a lot of time there for his company (3M), so he smooth-talked them into letting him move there with his whole family for the summer. In her youth, Brooke served in the same area as a German-speaking Missionary, so it was a great opportunity for her. Ellie (16 years) is still the only official track star in the Nelson Family. She’s been running for years now.

Erin & Sverre  (Denver—6 kids). They are doing great. Will (4 years) still calls Christine “Grandpa.” He was looking at some pictures of Rick and Christine on the computer and said to Erin, “I miss Grandpa and Grandpa.”  Will  was also heard bellowing at the top of his lungs to his mother—”You’re a bad guy, you’re a bad guy.” Erin was attempting to give him his (almost) daily bath. Sverre and Erin, along with a few of our other kids, are gearing up to face “teenage parenting.”  For example, Abbey (12 years) was having two of her friends over to her house for the first time and left her mother the following note:  

       “Dear Mom. I cleaned the basement this morning. Please don’t have the house any bit            

       messy when we get home. My friends’ names are Sofia (short brown hair) and Katie (the

       other one).  Please have a snack for us. AND keep the house spotless. Then at like 4 pm

       you have to drive us to Petco.

       Thank you—Abby  

       PS. Be in something other than sweat pants.”

Note: Abby is the one who had a unicycle packed in her giant suitcase when she flew from Denver to Salt Lake City to attend a 3-day BYU basketball camp. She needed it for her part in the talent show.

Kristen & Mick (Bountiful, Utah—5 kids). Everybody is busy, to say the least. Mick finished landscaping their three-level backyard, complete with retaining walls. In October, in his “spare” time, he also ran the St. George Marathon. Kristen is usually right with him, but is expecting their 6th child (a GIRL!) in January. Nels  (4 years), while Kristen was parked on our driveway finishing up a telephone conversation, asked “Aren’t you even going in to see your mother??”

Todd & Rachel (Salt Lake-4 Kids). They have been in their current home a year now. They are also proud new owners of a ski boat. Well...actually it’s the 20-year old family boat (affectionately known as “the Barge”). We surprised Todd and Rachel by informing them that they were going to receive a FREE boat! (A person can know with certainty if he is ready to be a boat owner if he can tolerate standing over a toilet, tearing up $100 bills and flushing them away.) They took the boat.  Audrey (6 years), in her prayer,  “Please bless this trip to Red Fish to be worth it.” They are the proud parents of Molly (9 months), the chubbiest, cutest, and smiliest baby ever born into the Nelson Family.

Lauren & Mike (Oceanside, California—2 kids).  A big year. Frances (aka Sissy, Sis, Frankie, Franie, Francie—

you choose) was born in February. So cute, and bald as a  billiard ball. They sold their townhouse in Carlsbad and moved next door to Oceanside, into their first free-standing house. They were forewarned by their neighbors that,

in order to be properly prepared for Trick or Treating, they would  need to buy 10 bags of Costco Halloween candy.

They used all the candy. Lauren is still involved in the project that offers humanitarian care to villagers in Guatemala.

They are also both serving in the Spanish-speaking ward in Oceanside.

Jeff & Rachel. (Denver—2 kids).  It’s a BOY! Jeff and Rachel are the proud new parents of Luke William Nelson, born November 18. After remaining in denial for the better part of the day, Rachel finally decided that she was probably in labor and frantically headed to the hospital. She had the baby 45 minutes later. No one could get there in time to take Miles (18 months), so he joined Jeff and Rachel in the labor/delivery room. After he had pushed every button in the room a thousand times, a nurse finally took pity on them and took Miles to hang out in the nurses’ station until help arrived.

Jeff finished his MBA at UCLA in April. They moved to Denver, where Jeff went to work for the Vail Corporation. The job came with a free ski passes (unfortunately, not for his parents). Due to some bad planning by Park City’s previous owners, Vail is now the proud new owner of the Park City Ski Resort. We think Jeff applied for the ski patrol, but ended up in an office job. They are building their first home, which will be completed early next year.

Scott and Mandy (Houston—2 kids). Scott and Mandy still live in Texas, which is nice for them since Mandy’s parents live close by. Scott still works for Ernst and Young. Mandy keeps busy with Annie and Owen, while helping her sister with  her children. Outside of work, Scott spends hours each week mowing their gigantic Texas lawn. Mandy made him break down and buy himself a gently-used mower so he doesn’t have to keep borrowing one every week from her parents. In church, Scott was asked to help in the nursery with the 2 and 3 year olds—his favorite church responsibility ever.

Auto Update

Neighborhood Incident. Another classic Nelsons vs. the neighborhood event. Todd, parked at the top of our cul-de-sac, backed their van into Sarah’s BRAND NEW Acura. The bump sent it rolling down the cul-de-sac. It took out our neighbor’s large brick mailbox and rolled onto the next neighbor’s  front yard, missing one of their cars by millimeters. Happily, it stopped before hitting their prize tree (again). See Newsletter 2002. This incident happened one day after Mick backed into Todd’s car in the exact same spot. This makes the fifth Nelson car launched down our cul-de-sac. Interestingly, the house directly below us has never been hit.

Mystery dents-–Some mystery dents in a few cars ($1,000 worth) but nothing out of the ordinary. Larry, our auto body consultant (not to be confused with Larry, our former dog) just keeps smiling and pounding them out.

Tickets. While they still lived in L.A., Jeff decided to save some money by leaving his car out on the street overnight in the rain for a free car wash. Unfortunately, it was the day they swept the streets (no parking) which resulted in a ticket and a $75 fine.

Jeff’s previous, record-setting, $550 traffic violation (Nelson Newsletter 2010) was outdone this year by Brooke’s $800 traffic ticket, acquired this summer by speeding through a small village in Germany.

Forever Done. We thought our Auto Report might be finished—maybe forever. All the kids have left home. But no. Not over yet. Brooke just called from Minnesota, saying that she just decided to get some new snow tires--said she just got “hit.” We didn’t ask any questions. 

At this Christmas season we reflect on our many blessings. Above all, we love the Savior and are grateful for His birth and His atoning sacrifice. We are also so very grateful for the opportunity we have to have all of our NYNY South missionaries in our lives—so grateful for your goodness and for the opportunity we had of working with and coming to deeply love you. We treasure the love that we share and wish you the best Christmas ever this year.

PS. DON’T FORGET OUR MISSION TEMPLE DATE: JANUARY 10, AT 2:30 AT THE JORDAN RIVER TEMPLE. HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

Love Pres. & Sister Nelson

r.nels46@gmail.com

Family Home Evening and Eat More Chikin

In Carlsbad, California near the home of our daughter and her husband, there is a Chick-Fil-A drive-in that offers free food one night a year to anyone that dresses up like a cow. So here you see President Nelson in his “cow outfit” ordering his Chick-fil-A (supporting their admonition to “Eat More Chikin.”) I will have to say we felt a little funny but at least we weren’t alone--everybody there was dressed like a cow. It was our Family Home Evening activity.

We also wanted to say that,  if we could go back and do it over again, we would be better in holding our Family Home Evenings with our children. We did it, but we could have been more consistent. Nowadays, holding Family Home Evenings seems even more important—almost crucial. It plays such an important role in strengthening children and keeping the family together. There are so many “hits” out there that we need to guard against.

We were drawn to a quote by Brigham Young talking about eternal families--about marriage.

“It is without beginning of days or end of years: it lays the foundation for worlds...it is the thread which runs from the beginning to the end of the Gospel of Salvation—of the Gospel of the Son of God; it is from eternity to eternity.” (Journal of Discourses 2:90)

We love you.

President & Sister Nelson

Hastening in Our Time

As President Nelson and I have different to get together with our missionaries, we are continually impressed with the love you have for your missions—namely the people of New York. It seems that they will be engraved on your hearts forever. Many make repeated trips to return to where they served to visit…. Many continue to be in constant contact through Facebook, Instagram and all other varieties of social media (we love tha fact that we can follow our missionaries through Facebook).

Elder Bednar. Recently we were visiting our daughter, Kristen, who had just attended BYU Campus Education week. She said heard a great talk given by Elder Bednar on social media and the impact it would have in spreading the gospel in our day. Elder Bednar stated that President David O. McKay prophecied of our day—of “scientific discoveries that would stagger the imagination” referring the social media of our day. He talked about how knocking doors and street contacting was the principle way of finding new people when he was on his mission (I always liked knocking doors in NY. You never knew who you would find on the other side). Elder Bednar stated, “the world has changed and the very nature of missionary must change if the Lord is to accomplish His work of gathering Israel from the four corners of the earth.”

 Pilot Program. As you all probably remember, after we finished our mission, the Church came out with a pilot  program— using social media. The NYSM was slected as one of the “testing grounds.” Every missionary was given their own Ipad and each companionship was given an Iphone. President Nelson and I were excited because of the great power that would be given to the missionaries for good yet apprehensive about the potential it would have for evil. These new missionary tools would have to managed with exactness at all times in order for missionaries to accomplish their purposes (there were actually some baptisms of family and friends that were a result of these devices).

Elder Bednar added that approximately 40 percent of our worldwide missionary force soon will be using digital devices. Facebook and YouTube both have over a billion average monthly users. Millions and millons more are using Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and other similar programs. Some of the brethren have their own Twitter accounts, including Elder Bednar. All have their own Facebook pages. Mission presidents are instructed to go on Facebook when they return home. These are powerful communication tools.

Forever. Elder Bednar stated. “Anything you communicate through a social media channel indeed will live forever—(even if the app or program may promise otherwise.) Only say it or post it if you want the entire world to have access to your message or picture for all time.” Continue your communications. Keep your messages and images meaningful, but high-minded. There will be an accountability to the Lord for how you choose to continue to teach “your New York people” who you know are following your every word. Every image and message is accompanied by your spirit.

A Flood Sweeping the Earth. He left us his blessings: "That you will come to a fuller understanding of living in this dispensation and that you will increase your capacity to use tools that we have to take the gospel to the whole earth." Imagine the impact we can have as hundreds of thousands and millions of members contribute in seemingly small ways to the rising floodwaters. May our many efforts produce a steady rainfall of righteousness and truth that gradually swells a multitude of streams and rivers—and ultimately becomes a flood that sweeps the earth.” 

We love you. Your’re the best.

To Sweep the Earth as with a Flood by Elder David A. Bednar

Some Thoughts from Pres. and Sis. Nelson

President Nelson and I went to a reception last night with one of our sister missionaries. She asked if she could talk to us for a minute. I guess in one of her classes they were discussing Equal Rights (I am not exactly sure what that all entails), but she was making a stand against same sex marriage and seemed to be on her own. They kept on asking her if she was in favor of Equal Rights inferring that same-sex marriage was part of the package, therefore made it right. I sent her along some thoughts.

1. Package. I told her that there wasn’t just one package. Just because something may contain 9 out of 10 good and righteous things, if there is one thing that goes against your values then by voting for the “package” you would still have to compromise your personal integrity (it would fine to “vote” for them separately). Satan’s approach when presenting a deception is to surround it with much truth and good.

                       

2. Tool. In the last days even the elect will be deceived. I feel that the issue of Same Sex Marriage (even though a person wouldn’t practice it) is the most effective tool that Satan has ever had to lead people away from the Church. They say that marriage between a man and a man or a woman/woman should be legal—accepted by the Church—endorsed by prophets--ordained of God. It’s one of Satan's best deceptions--one of his most powerful mockeries.

3. Criticism. As soon as we accept it as a personal belief, the next natural step is to go on to criticize leaders, authorities, our prophets, and God himself. People put themselves slightly above all, claiming to be “enlightened”--and that those who aren't of their same persuasion are mis-informed or slightly behind the times. 

4. Slippery Slide. Next comes a slippery slide that literally slides people “line upon line” right out of the Church. It’s becoming more common than you think—scary. The "journey" goes pretty fast. The percentages we’ve heard are too high, especially among young adults. 

                                              TRUTHS

         Truth:     Marriage has been a sacred institution ordained God  

                     since the beginning of time. It doesn’t matter what

                     religion you are or your beliefs. (true)

       Truth:    There is nothing wrong with having same-gender attraction any 

                     more than having opposite-sex attraction. (true) (It’s how

                     we handle it.)

       Truth:    God loves everybody with a perfect love no matter who they  

                     are or what they believe. (true)

       Truth:    Only God can judge. We do not have the right to judge other

                     people. (true)  (We are, however, taught to judge actions. 

                     Parents spend their whole lives trying to instill righteous actions

                     and behaviors in their children).

      Truth:    Everybody deserves to be happy. (true) (God has a different

                    definition of happiness than man. His is long term.)

Deception: “Because I have same-gender attraction, the only way I can be truly happy is to be with another person of my same gender.” I am “special” and allowances should be made for my situation. The rules of morality shouldn’t apply to me (false). (There are many, many “special” situations, in addition to same-sex attraction. The question is, do we believe that being morally clean in the strictest sense of the word is "of" God?) 

Marriage between a man and woman is ordained "of" God and has been since the beginning of time. Any other way is a law "of" man. Just because a law "of" man is made legal, doesn't automatically convert it to a law "of" God.

Man’s path--his laws--will eventually lead to emptiness in the strictest sense of the word, whether it be in this world or in the world to come. When we accept Satan’s falsehoods as God’s truths, we as covenant people, will pay a dear price.

TV--The News  I was watching a segment of the news not too long ago (Utah) of a same-gender wedding. The official/minister who was marrying them stated, “What God joins together, let no man put asunder.”  I was saddened and knew that God would never join two people in "sacred" matrimony in this situation. It will be Satan who puts it “asunder.” It goes against all of His laws of eternity.

I liked the Church’s recent statement—that people have the right to believe differently than we do, and we should always treat them with kindness and consideration.  And hopefully, they would extend the same courtesy to us.

CHURCH’S STATEMENT 

                                                 Same Sex Marriage

                                             (Church News, January 2014)

  “Just as those who promote same-sex marriage are entitled to civility, the same is true for those who oppose it,” the leaders stated in the letter, posted on the church’s website.“ The church insists on its leaders’ and members’ constitutionally protected right to express and advocate religious convictions on marriage, family and morality free from retaliation or retribution. The church is also entitled to maintain its standards of moral conduct and good standing for members.” The church also emphasized that those who promote same-sex marriage are equally deserving of civility. “While these matters will continue to evolve, we affirm that those who avail themselves of laws or court rulings authorizing same-sex marriage should not be treated disrespectfully. The gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us to love and treat all people with kindness and civility—even when we disagree.”

There are so many heavy burdens that we will have to carry during this life. However, I have a firm belief that we understood and accepted our trials before we came to this earth. All that is rightfully ours will be restored to us in the Lord's own due time. We need to be patient in our afflictions. We love you.