MSUB SPORTS – When Tyler Nelson first stepped foot in Billings, Mont., to suit up as a basketball player for the Yellowjackets, it was somewhat foreign territory. The Roosevelt, Utah native had arrived on the campus of Montana State University Billings to pick up where he had left off on his basketball career two years earlier, this time calling the confines of Alterowitz Gymnasium home.
 
Playing football and basketball growing up with his five brothers, Nelson developed a competitive edge and learned about teamwork through sports from an early age.
 
His father Gary Nelson had been a two-sport standout at then-Dixie State College in St. George, Utah, where he played football and tennis.
 
Athletics were a natural fit for Nelson, and he quickly developed into a promising college prospect moving into his senior year at Union High School. "I was getting recruited a bit for football, but when basketball came around my senior year I realized how much I loved it," Nelson said regarding his choice to pursue hoops in college.
 
Today, Nelson is a senior for the Yellowjackets and is the only player on the squad to have started all 16 games this season. His 6-foot-7 presence is a valuable asset to the team, but even bigger are his dedication, commitment and leadership that set an example for all of the players.
 
That leadership has emerged over the course of Nelson's three years spent at MSUB, but what truly began to draw it out started with a unique journey before he became a Yellowjacket. After his first year of college at Central Wyoming, Nelson embarked on a mission with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to El Salvador that forever changed his perspective on life.
 
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
 
"We were told that when we got there that we were to leave everything behind mentally so that we would be fully engaged in what we were doing," Nelson said regarding instructions he received before committing to the two-year mission in Central America's most densely-populated nation. "It was tough at first but over time I became absorbed in my work and I wasn't thinking about basketball at all."
 
Along with his unwavering athletic background, Nelson also had to let go of the one and only language he understood, and had to completely re-learn how to communicate. "At first I had no language and I had no idea what anyone was saying," Nelson said. "I'd say I started to gain a general grasp around six months and it became easier and easier after that."
 

While Spanish is the native language in El Salvador, it was a wide range of variations within the language that kept Nelson on his toes as he learned on the fly. "You have a companion on the mission who is with you 24/7, and you would switch to a new location and new companion every six weeks to nine months," Nelson said. "My first one was from Chile, and he spoke quick, Chilean Spanish that was hard for me to understand. I was able to pick up bits and pieces and it got better after a while."
 
Getting up to speed enough to hold a conversation was a task within itself, but considering the overall purpose of Nelson's mission was to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to foreigners, Nelson had to get to a level with the language where he could impart key concepts of his religion to the people in his new home.
 
At times, keeping thoughts of his life in the United States out of his mind was difficult. Where he once took clean clothes, running water and smoothly-paved roads for granted, Nelson found himself learning a new way to approach what had previously been every-day luxuries.
 
"I was living among people who didn't have anything except for a hut," Nelson said. "There was no running water or warm water and I had to bathe outside using a bucket. It really changed my perspective and taught me how much I have here (in America)."
 
Through Nelson's work, he aimed to aid the natives in terms of their spiritual needs to improve their perspective on life despite challenging living circumstances. "We felt that if people accepted and lived by the message we were preaching that they would be happy in their lives regardless of their physical condition or where they were living," Nelson said. "I saw that change occur in many people and that was the ultimate goal – to become something better, something more."
 
BACK TO THE STATES
 
"I have a deep love for the Hispanic culture and for Latin Americans after living among them. It changed my perspective on life completely." – Tyler Nelson.
 
By the time Nelson's two years had elapsed and he boarded a plane back to the states, he carried with him a sense of pride and accomplishment. Despite physical, mental and spiritual exhaustion, Nelson felt that he had given it all he had and served the people to the best of his ability. "It was tough to leave, because I grew to love the people there so much and I wanted to be with them," said Nelson. "I was a bit torn, but I felt like I was satisfied with the work I had done."
 
As his life as an American began to come back into focus, clean water and a wide selection of restaurants quickly reminded Nelson of the life he was re-entering. The Spanish language he had worked so hard at to pick up and learn lingered with him, and he remembered having difficulty training his ear back to the English tongue. "I was thinking a lot in Spanish and I was so absorbed in it," Nelson recalled of his early transition back to U.S. culture. "I almost had to re-learn my English accent. It sounds kind of weird but over time you do start to lose it a bit."
 
One-by-one, the fundamental functions of everyday-life came back to Nelson, as he began planning his next step. When basketball began to resurface at the front of Nelson's mind, it was his former coach at Central Wyoming College, Jamie Stevens, that Nelson turned to for an opportunity to return to the court.
 
"I really enjoyed having Tyler at Central Wyoming, and I stayed in touch with his father while he was gone," said Stevens, who had transitioned into the head coaching role at MSUB during Nelson's time in El Salvador. "I knew Tyler would be a great person to have in our program at MSUB, and he is a wonderful representative of the kind of person we want to have on our team."
 
Stevens had been aware of Nelson's plan to take a hiatus from college to complete his calling, and the sense of familiarity made the transition back to basketball at the NCAA Division II level easier for Nelson. "I had a familiarity with Coach Stevens and his coaching style, and he knew me as a player and how I played so it felt right," Nelson said with respect to rekindling the relationship.
 
The first time Nelson laced up his shoes and stepped foot on the hardwood since coming back to the U.S. was in the first week of August, and with games beginning three months later that timeframe would be daunting even for a player who was in shape.
 
For someone who hadn't so much as touched a basketball in two years it seemed downright unrealistic.
 
"I had to go through the grind of the preseason and all of the physical conditioning, and that was tough," Nelson remembered. "I just felt like it was where I needed to be though, and that I was here for a reason."
 
TRANSFERRABLE SKILLS
 
Re-entering the realm of basketball at what would normally be the age of a college senior, Nelson knew that he still had three more years to grow and develop within the game he loved. With the type of maturity he displayed from his first day as a Yellowjacket, Stevens knew Nelson would fill in a valuable role as a leader within the program.
 
"Tyler was very mature when he arrived here and I think his personality and ability to communicate have really shown over the past three years," Stevens said.
 
Nelson attributes his current position as a senior leader to the perspective he gained and the leadership roles he held while on his mission. Originally beginning as one of around 200 missionaries, by his second year Nelson had progressed into a group

leader and eventually became an assistant to the president of the mission.
 
"When there were problems, I had to be self-sufficient and find solutions, which is a big thing that I learned," Nelson said. "Within the leadership positions I held during my mission, I can relate them directly to basketball. I had to have people skills, to critical think at times, and I learned how being a good leader effects the people surrounding you."
 
Along with Nelson's ability as a problem solver, it is the work ethic he developed and mentality to earn everything he is given that has made him a model player within Stevens's program. "Tyler has been the hardest worker on every team that he has been on," Stevens said. "Nobody practices harder and that effort transfers over into the games. He is completely bought in to doing things right in all aspects of his life, including academics, practice and in the weight room. Tyler gives everything he has in everything that he does."
 
While Nelson and Stevens agree that the senior is not the most vocal leader, it is through Nelson's actions that he commands respect from his teammates and is able to have an impact on their perspective as well. It is not uncommon for Nelson to pull a teammate aside after practice and share words of encouragement.
 
"I am not the most vocal person, but I feel that I care about my teammates and that they can see that," Nelson said. "I just like to remind guys that I appreciate what they are doing and that I go out and practice and work hard for them."
 
THANKFUL FOR MSUB
 
While the real-world experience Nelson had on his mission taught him many things that can't be learned within a classroom, he remains passionate about completing his degree and continuing his education as a college student. Nelson is completing his course of study with the communications department at MSUB, and is proud of what he represents as a student and an athlete every time he takes the court wearing navy and gold.
 
"I feel that MSUB has helped me a lot in academics, and I have had great professors who really care and are always willing to help," Nelson said. "That has translated onto the basketball court as well, as I want to give back to MSUB and the campus as a whole. I play to the best of my ability because it is important to show that you respect what you have been given. MSUB has definitely helped me for the better and I am grateful for it."
 
Playing a major role in shaping Nelson was the way in which his family raised him, as he commented how his parents instilled upon him to always work hard and earn what he gets. Nelson's five brothers and sister helped challenge him and develop a sense of perseverance.
 
After returning from his mission, Nelson met his wife Lindsey, and the two have since had a son, Jaiden Tyler Nelson who is now seven months old. "I've learned that over time life is a balance," Nelson said. "Being married and having a kid, playing basketball and going to school full time is a challenge. I have always believed that if you put God first and serve him to the best of your ability that He will take care of you. I have been blessed with great things and I am very thankful for it."