Carly turns 12! tomorrow.

Hola Elder Nielsen,

I am sitting here trying to remember or think what happened this past week. I was busy, but nothing very memorable pops up in my head. I booked mom's flight to Peru. So we will be going together on the same flights. I used my sky miles and it only cost me $76 for taxes and fees. But now we got to figure out what we will be doing when we get down there. Since Erin is pregnant, they don't think it is a good idea for her to go down there with the Zika virus and getting bugs from the food, etc. So our tour guide is not going. We will leave Oct. 10th and get back Oct. 20th. Right during my hunt, but that is ok.

This past week it was raining a lot and it snowed in the mountains. Val and Ruth Esplin left Wednesday to go and hike the Ruby Crest trail. They got in there 12 miles to their first stop and it got very cold and was raining hard all night. They only had sweatshirts for the cold. They decided they better start heading back to where they came from and it was snowing very badly and they could not see the trail. I guess they were fearing for their lives and praying a ton to get our safely. The snow was pretty deep. Val talked to one guy on Sat who was up there and had to have a helicopter get him out as the snow was up to his waist and chest at some points and he could not get himself out. They made it back out on Thursday, and I guess Ruth just started bawling when they got back to the truck. They were very scared. We had talked about going with them, but we will do it earlier in the fall.

On Thursday, the student body had free hot dogs and hamburgers and I was eating lunch there and Iris came through the door. So I told her to come eat by me which she did. She acted as if nothing had ever happened. It was a good visit. We had given her a $2000 scholarship and a bunch of the ladies in the nursing department heard about her and had bought her about 6 or 7 bags of groceries which I told her I had and she should come by and pick them up. We had another good visit in my office. She came by my office again on Friday to bring a thank you card and I invited her to hear the sister missionaries again that evening. So we had the YSA sisters come over on Friday  after work and teach her again. She was afraid of what she was getting herself in to. She asked what is the difference between Mormons and Christians. She also told us that she had told her mom what I told her and her mom told her that "that was not Mr. Scott talking, that was God speaking through Mr. Scott". That is what she calls me Mr. Scott. I asked her what did I tell you? She said it was the part I told her about if she kept the commandments of God and did every thing she could to study and prepare for her classes that Heavenly Father would bless her in her studies. I told her a lot of things so I did not know what she was referring to. She is a very sweet girl and very sincere in her seeking spirituality. The lesson went well and the spirit was there.

We wanted her to come over for dinner today, but she didn't. She works 12.5 hour days on Sat. and Sun. and then studies all the time during the week to prepare for her classes. She is the most focused student I have ever seen. That is all she does.

I also invited that Mexican family that we would see when we went to those 4-H activities with Cathy Demick that Summer and Carly use to do and the entire family was invited. I know Cody you were in that activity up Lamoille canyon that skit we put on as a family.

But that family came in and I invited them to listen to the missionaries and they said they would. So I need to arrange a time when the spanish Elders can go over them and teach them. I got their address and phone number and will call them.

Summer played soccer in So. Tahoe on Friday and Fallon on Sat. They lost to So. Tahoe 3-0 and beat Fallon 4-3. I guess she did not play that well on Friday and did not start on Saturday's game. So we need to get her hustling all the time.

Elko played Truckee on Sat. and they were behind 32-0 in the 4th quarter. Truckee is back to there greatness and undefeated again this year.  BYU played West Virginia and lost 31-27 or something. BYU was driving for the win in the last few minutes of the game and Taysom through a pass in the end zone and the BYU receiver tipped it and it was picked off by West Virginia and game over. 

We had fast Sunday today as General Conference is next week. We had a really good sacrament meeting with all the testimonies. We were suppose to have the Becks over for dinner, he got baptized when Bishop Bryce was bishop and then they moved to the 5th ward and he was struggling a little, but one of their kids were sick and did not come.

Mom and I are going out home teaching now.

We love you. Keep working hard and being a great example to the rest. Learn every thing you can while working so closely with the President. It will benefit you for the rest of your life.

Have a super week.

Love Dad

Feeling Fallish

Dear Elder Nielsen,

This past week was crazy busy for me. I had 4 partnerships and corporate tax returns to get out by the 15th of September. I also had my class on Monday and that makes for a long day. I got home around 10 pm. Worked on tax returns on all my free time. I was getting to the panic mode as I could not finish 1 return as I was waiting for a K-1 from a partnership in California. They finally got it to me around 10 am on the 15th. I worked until 8 pm that night and then I finally sent the tax returns, I was tired of looking at them.

I was so tired and exhausted on Thursday night I did not go to YM YW. I stayed home and slept. Tawny, my assistant at work we thought was having a stroke on Wednesday. She was having numbness on the her left side of her face and in her arms. We sent her to the emergency room, and they kept her all day and did some testing. They concluded it was Bells Palsy, which could go away in 3 weeks. But her left side of her face is paralyzed and she can't drink or eat very well. So 2 of us was trying to hold down the office for 3 days.

On Friday, we went to Summer's soccer game. They played Sparks. Elko dominated the entire game and missed a bunch of point blank opportunities. We ended up fouling them in the box and they got a Penalty Kick and made it as we lost 1-0. Elko played Fernley in football and won 20-17 in the last few minutes with a pick 6 by Kyron Allen. 

Saturday, we were suppose to have the YSA sisters teach another student that I had invited to listen to the missionaries in our home, but she said she was too tired and needed the sleep. We keep striking out on our missionary efforts. That other girl we taught still has not been in to talk to me again. I think she is avoiding me like the plague.

Summer had another soccer game against Truckee on Saturday who is one of the better teams in the league. We were up 1-0. And then they scored 3 quick goals. We had a penalty kick and their goalie blocked it. We ended up losing 4-2. They ended up getting a lucky goal late in the game or it should have been 3-3 if we make the PK. Summer still starts and plays almost the entire game, but they will sub her out for about 5-10 minutes a game. She played a lot more physical on Sat. game. Alex Jordan and the Shelley kid came to the soccer game after it was over and visited with all the people. Alex invited Britney Gonzalez and Oceana Morin to hear him talk in church today. Oceana ended up coming and AJ asked her if she wanted to listen to the missionaries and She said not right now. But it was all good. He is really humble now and did a great job speaking and serving as a missionary. He compared keeping the Sabbath day holy to being a missionary. He said as a missionary he had to give up music, friends, social media and dedicate all his time to the Lord. That is similar to how what we should be doing on the Sabbath day, giving up all those things and coming closer to our Savior.  AJ said he met a couple of sister missionaries that were in your zone knew you who were waiting for visas that ended up going to Australia.

I graded papers for my accounting class and watched college football on sat. after the game. BYU played UCLA at home. I stayed up and watched the replay of the game on BYUTV until 2:30am. BYU lost 17-14. But it was a very boring game. And I am very disappointed in BYU's offense. Taysom is not the same. He can't out run any one and stays in the pocket and gets sacked. BYU had like 7 - 3 plays and a punt. I did not think the play calling was that great as well. If Taysom is not going to run, they might as well put Mangum in, he is a better passer. Both defenses looked really good for BYU and UCLA.

We had the sister missionaries over for dinner today. We have 2 polys. Both live in the US, but their families are from Tonga and Samoa.

Have a super week. We love you and are happy you are serving a mission. Have you met Brother and Sister Holmes from Elko over there? They are serving as the mental doctors for all the Philippines. I am not sure where they are living. But you might come in contact with them if any of your missionaries needed counseling.

Work hard and enjoy every minutes. I love the scripture we read in Sunday school today 3 Nephi 5:13 which describes missionaries.  And you are that special representative.

Love,

Dad

I had stake general priesthood meeting tonight and it was great. They challenged us to have family counsels, did family history work, read books to our kids, keep the Sabbath day holy, etc.

Amber and Kevin's Reception

Hola Elder Nielsen,

We had another good and busy week. Labor Day was Monday, and we just worked around the house. Our Peach trees have tons of peaches on them and I was peeling peaches making peach liquados in the morning. The van is making a squealing sound and I tried to fix that, but it was a bigger project than I had time to do. I worked all week, we are still busy at work getting every one their money. I did not hear a peep out of that student that we had over with the missionaries. The sisters said they had talked to some missionaries that met with her in the past and her mom was very against the church. So I don't know if the mom got involved or not.

On Friday, Summer had a soccer game against North Tahoe. I guess they have done away with the 1a division and we are back in the 3a division. North Tahoe is now in our league. But Summer made a nice goal in the 1st half and then we gave up 2 quick goals to them in the 2nd half and lost 2-1. Summer played the entire game. They had some really fast tall girls that would run right past our defense. Mom was getting every thing ready for Amber's wedding reception on Saturday night. Summer and I went to the varsity volleyball game and Elko lost to South Tahoe in 3 straight sets. It just seems to me like all of our teams are weak this year. Not even close to the teams we had in the past. Summer and I also went to the Elko Football game that evening. Elko played sparks and we were losing, and it was getting cold so Summer and I left at about 9:30 pm. Amber and Kevin were going to get here that night. Elko ended up winning in overtime I guess. Amber and Kevin did not get here until 10:30 pm. So it was a late night.

Saturday was extremely busy. We got up early and did the papers. Summer had another game against Incline and we lost 3-2. So we are 0-2 in varsity soccer. Summer subbed out for about 5 minutes, but that was it. Afterward, we went to the church to get a bunch of tables and chairs for the reception. Kevin brought back the truck. So we are back in business with the hunting season coming up. We came back and Kevin's parents were here so we were setting up and getting the food ready all afternoon. Mom did a really good job and decorating every thing and the back yard looked great. It was a very pleasant evening. We had about 30-40 people show up. But it was really nice. 

BYU played Utah at utah during the reception, so I had to keep going in and watching the game. The very 1st play of the game, Hill's pass reflected off the hands of the receiver and Utah had a pick 6. But we battled back and got a couple of turnovers and field goals. It was more of a defensive effort. Utah had 6 turnovers and BYU had about 4. So Utah was and kicked a field goal with 2 minutes and 30 seconds to go in the game to go ahead by 7 points. BYU marched down the field and Taysom ran in a touchdown with 16 seconds to go in the game. But BYU went for the 2 point conversion instead of kicking the extra point and going in to OT. It was a quarterback draw and Utah had a blitz call and Taysom did not make it in. So game over BYU lost 20-19. I was disappointed. They had a couple a questionable calls, back to back targeting against BYU and both players were ejected. 1 guy Ky Nacua had two picks in the game. I'm not sure if the calls affected the game, but both hit with their shoulders and did not lead with their heads. But with out some of their good defensive players on the field, I think it had to hurt a little.

We had good meetings in church today. Amber and Kevin left in the camry for Rexburg after church. Chelsea called and I guess David has hand mouth and foot disease where he has sores all over his feet, mouth and hands and was crying  a lot and very miserable. Poor little guy.

This next week will be crazy for me. I have 5 partnerships and corp. tax returns to get out by the 15th and class tomorrow, so it will be crazy busy.

Keep working hard. We love you and are happy you are serving a mission. The time will fly by the busier you are but try to cherish every moment as the Lord's representative.

Have a super week.

Love,

Dad

Elko County Fair time!

Elder Nielsen,

It was the first week of school and it was busy. Monday I had my class until 10 pm at night. I have about 19 students total in my class. 13 in Elko and 6 at the other centers around the state. Summer sunburned her lips in Reno last weekend, so her lips are all blistered. She must have gotten that trait from her father and will have to use sun screen when ever she is outside.

On Wednesday I had a neat little missionary experience. There was this student who is from Reno and got accepted into the nursing program so she is here all by herself. Her mom only makes about $10,000 a year, so the student is doing this all on her own. She had used all her money on Tuition and rent and did not have any money for food, so she came into our office to see if there were any places to help her with food.  Tawny, in my office was calling FISH and a few other places for her so I took her into my office to fill out a FAFSA. She is not a legal resident, so she can't get federal money, but she could qualify for state money. I invited her over for dinner that night at 6:30. And during our conversation, I asked her if she was religious. She told me she was Christian. I asked her what religion she belonged to and she said, none, just christian. So I invited her to go to church with us on Sunday, and she asked me which church. I told her the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints. And she told me she had met 2 ladies on Monday that had invited her to church. I asked her if they had name badges on and she said yes. She said I think it is the same church. I told her it was. She also had a friend from Reno High school that went on a mission and had invited her to church, but things never materialized. So I said come over for dinner and I will invited the YSA sister missionaries and they can teach you what we believe. She said ok. The sisters had appointments from 6-9 that night. So I said if something falls through come over. 

I did not get a hold of mom until 6 pm to tell her we had someone coming for dinner, but thankfully mom had some things she was making testing out for Amber's reception here next week. So she (Iris) came over and we had a good dinner and the sisters, then texted me and said they could be here at 7:15 pm. So I told them to come on over. And they had a quick discussion with her, and soft set her for baptism. She is the sweetest little girl. She is Mexican and her mom only talks spanish. While she was in my office we had to call her mom to get some answers to questions on the FAFSA. And I spoke to her mom in spanish. So here is the time frame. Met her at 3:30 pm, dinner at 6:30 pm and lesson at 7:15 pm and soft set for baptism. The spirit was very strong in our home that evening and the sister missionaries are amazing. The one sister was just transferred in to this area a few weeks ago and she is spanish speaking. And she is on a tennis scholarship at BYU Hawaii. And Iris loves tennis and played on Reno high schools tennis team. Do you think these are just coincidences? It is amazing how the Lord has his hand in every thing in his work. We had been praying as a family to find someone for the missionaries to teach in our home as it has been over a year ago that we had the Filipino family taught here before Cody's mission. So it has been too long.  We scheduled another discussion for Saturday at 2:30 pm. Right during Summer's soccer game as that is when she said she could do it. But as always happens with these golden investigators, we were here waiting with 4 sisters missionaries and she never showed up or responded to my text or call.

She was working 2 jobs before that and Friday night told Dos Amigos that she would have to quit due to her school schedule and she was working at the Manor and her boss told her she could work Sat and Sun for 8 hours a day. So I don't know if they switched her schedule that fast or not. But we were disappointed. She still has some paper work to follow up with at the college so I hope to see her there and find out what happened.

Summer had a soccer game out in spring creek on Friday and they won 4-2 against Jerome, ID. She played the entire game on Friday. On Saturday they played Pahrump and lost 1-0. She started and played most of the game, but got subbed out once. Then Saturday afternoon they played Spring Creek and I wanted to see that game, but came back in for the discussion that never happened. They beat SC 1-0.  She is getting lots of playing time and Erin needs to work with her to show her how to use her body and shield people. If she could learn that she would be a ton better.

BYU played Arizona and won 18-16. BYU lead the entire game and Arizona scored a touchdown with 1:30 to go in the game to go ahead 16-15. But BYU went down and a freshman kicker with his 1st college kick, kicked a 37 yard field goal with 5 seconds to go in the game and BYU won. BYU playes Utah next weekend. Taysom Hill started and Ty Detmer is the offensive coordinator. So It will be exciting to see what happens this year.

Elko beat Wooster in football on Friday night 20-13.  But Elko is still weak. Also, 2 of the top 5 teams in the nation lost on the 1st weekend, 1st time since 1972. LSU lost to Texas A&M, and Oklahoma lost to Houston. You got to love college football.

We had good meetings today at church. Our family fasted for Iris. We will see what happens. I have to go meet with a few people and set up a budget for them this afternoon before they get help from Bishop Olsen.

Keep working hard. Be the example of how a missionary should be. We love you and pray for you daily. Have a super week. Tomorrow is Labor Day so we will be working to get every thing ready for next weekend with Amber and Kevin's reception here. Kevin made it back safely all by himself from Michigan on Friday.

We love you,

DAD