56th Week, February 24, 2014

Hey Greenie! Grab your tongue taco and lets take a picture!

Oh man... the weird things we eat in Texas!!

For sunday dinner, we ate at a member's house with the other sisters... and we had cow tongue. :) Yep. It was actually good! The only thing is... you gotta get past the whole mental aspect of the fact you are eating tongue... sick!

So you cook it just like a pot roast! In the crock pot while at church :) Then you just scrape the meet from the outside rubbery part of the tongue and ah ha! we have tongue tacos! :D Haha oh man... it was great. So it was me and my compy and then the other sister and her greenie. and the greenie was sitting by me. So I grabbed my camera and said "hey! Greenie! Grab your tongue taco and lets take a picture!" and we did :) So those are the pictures I am sending today :) It was great!

So! Adventures for this week! :D

Oh man... we biked... and we biked... and then... we biked some more!
And when we got tired of that... we walked :O oh man. my legs are getting nice and toned! Its great haha. and the whole biking thing is growing on my companion :) She's starting to like it more so that's great! We actually found a bunch of new investigators this week! it was a blast! WE TAUGHT IN SPANISH!!!! :D 

Literally, God is so great! I know that He is blessing me for working so hard in Corpus to learn the language when  I didn't have anyone to speak it too. I am so grateful and my testimony of hard work has grown even stronger! I know the Lord blesses us when we offer up all we have! There are still moments I have to ask my companion what someone says... but mostly its just when they go off on random tangents... like this lady telling us about her mammogram... or doing a biopsy... o.O that  was weird. I understood with her hand actions though and felt super weirded out! Why do people think its cool to tell us their gross body stuff?! Bah i'll never understand that... oh well! Its still fun.

 

So! Learning this week!

This week I literally dedicated the majority of my person study times to studying the Christ like attributes... a different one each day. and the one I enjoyed the most this last week was Humility. and  our leaders talked a lot about it too. Something one of them said is that "the only thing that would keep us from loving our companion is our pride". and that is very true. and something I loved that I read is that humility is when we can recognize with gratitude our dependence on God. We are the strongest in life when we are willing to submit our will to the will of the Father.

I thought that I had been humbled a lot when I was in the island and that I wasn't being too prideful, then when we had interviews back in... January... my mission president told me that I needed to be careful with my pride and I was kind of bugged because I thought 'man like... I've been working on that!!' But I've realized that pride manifests itself in SOO MANY WAYS!!

 

When we compare ourselves to others, we are showing pride. When we are thinking we deserve better? Pride. When we put our trust in ourselves rather than God? Pride!  AHHHHHH! As I was studying I realized that I have a long way to go! But I've set some goals and I want to share one with you. When I start comparing myself to someone, I'm going to stop and just pray for that persons success. We had one of the STL (sister training leader, like female district leader) In our apartment this last week and she is an old companion of mine. So when she started getting after us for having a messy apartment... oh man.. my blood started to boil as I thought back to how her desk and everything looked when we were together. and the fact that its been crazy with 6 sisters in the apartment... I was not happy. Then I realized how prideful I was being... and prayed for her. and felt a lot better. I know that she is doing her best and yeah she is there to help us! Doesn't mean she's perfect! That's ok!

So I would like to invite you to try it to! When you start comparing yourself to someone, just stop and pray for them and there success/happiness :) It'll help get rid of those feelings super fast!

 

I know that we are in this life to enjoy it. The purpose of us being here is to find happiness and become like our Heavenly Father. He LOVES us! and He wants us to love our brothers and sisters too! Not belittle them, or compare ourselves to them. The Lord is fair. In everything. I know that. I have seen so many cool blessings these last two weeks and I'm STOKED to see the things the Lord has in store for this one! Its gonna be great! and who knows what strange thing I'll be fed next?! :D Yikes! Haha That's the joys of being a missionary! Serving God, and eating mysterious things! I love it! and love you! Have a great week!!!

 

Hermana Nielson

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55th Week, February 17, 2014

 Bienvenida a la primera area de bisis para las hermanas!!!!

Yes. It was true. Sister Perez and I are making TEXAS MCALLEN MISSION HISTORY!!!!

We have no car. Nope. The sisters we live with have cars... But we have bikes! Our area is called "Edinburg A Pie" No thats not english. Its spanish. meaning "Edinburg by foot"! :D I love it!!! I have seriously loved every minute of working this last week because this is my dream area!

I know the Lord is going to bless us with so many miracles here because we are able to talk to EVERYONE and we have a booming area!!! We have tons of people outside all the time, we have humble areas... I LOVE THIS AREA!!!!

The area is awesome! My companion is adorable... She's likes 5 foot nothing and from California. So we are pretty comical riding up on our bikes to people! But its great! We saw some pretty cool miracles this week too! We are focusing right now solely on the ward list! We want to find everyone that lives in our area and make sure we know the people so we can work with them and figure out who all the less actives are to get them reactivated! Our english ward list is HUGE!!!! It seriously should be split but we need some serious reactivation before that can happen so thats my goal! I have a very strong feeling that is why the Lord has called us here at this time! As well we are going to find those prepared souls who need two sisters on bikes to help them remember that they have a loving Heavenly Father! :)

Right now the focus in our mission is referrals! Everything starts with the referral to a prepared person right? So Sister Perez and I are asking everyone we meet who they know that might need the gospel and we received 14 referrals this last week!! Thats the most I have ever gotten in a week! It was so cool and then we found a super awesome investigator when we were contacting the referrals! :D Miracles!

This morning in my personal study I decided to read about faith. Something that really stuck out to me and that I believe is that our faith makes us act! in Hebrews 11 it talks about how for the faith all those people had, they followed the Lord and acted! People are always saying faith brings miracles but this morning I decided something! Its not just the faith bringing the miracles. the faith just helps us recognize them. When we recognize that everything we have, we have been given by the Lord, its a lot easier to recognize the miracles going on in our lives! Its not a miracle of Faith that we found this cool investigator last week, its a miracle we recognized because of our faith that the Lord is going to put prepared people in our path!

I LOVE being a missionary so much! In our apartment right now we have 3 sets of sisters including my companion and I! Sister Tippetts is actually from Grantsville! We spent an evening just talking about all the people we both know. It was really cool to think about how the Lord has blessed those people at home and how... life does go on outside of the world I'm living in here in south texas! Who would have thought? ;)

I love the Gospel so much and I'm grateful for this time I have to be here serving the Lord with literally all my might, mind, STRENGTH (bikes!) and heart! This is a great work we are ALL enlisted in until the Lord takes over :D I challenge you all to give the missionaries a referral this week! Prayerfull select someone you know who is not a member and go with the missionaries to go visit that person! Everyone NEEDS the gospel! Its not just a garnish on the plate of life! It is EVERYTHING!!! I love you all and hope you have a safe week! Please pray for Sister Perez and I's safety on the bikes! we do cross some super busy streets and she's been a little nervous but I know the Lord will protect and watch over us as long as we are obedient and wise in our actions! THE CHURCH IS TRUE! GOD LOVES YOU! and so do I! :D

 

Hermana Nielson y Pepe (my bike!)

 

54th Week February 10, 2014

Transferss!!!

Soo... I'm not gonna lie... I was stressing about the transfer calls this time around. I kept thinking "it'll be fine if a stay... I love the members... we are working hard... it'll be fine.. " But then the other thought of "I've been here 6 months!!! I need something new before I go crazy! Too late! I'm talking to myself!!"

So i'm stressing right? Attempting to study as we waiting for the calls when suddenly! The phone rings! We have the voicemail! (they send out a group voice mail with information for us)

 We are listening right? and they say a couple changes then say "oh thats all! Bye everyone! No wait! One more! By the way, Sister Nielson you are going to Edinburg... and you are opening an area so we don't know what its called.. or who your companion is. Have a great day!"

 

AHHHH!!!! I'm sooo excited!!! They finally found out for me, my companion is Sister Perez who started her mission at the same time as me :) So we are opening this new area in Edinburg together! Huzzah! It will be an adventure for sure!

 

As for adventures of this last week..... :)

 

BAUTISMO!!!!

We had a baptism on sunday!!!! Sara got baptized!! our 14 year old investigator who's parents are members AND HER DAD GOT TO BAPTIZE HER!!!! How cool is that?! Inactive for 15 years but able to get reactived and be worthy to baptize his youngest daughter!! It was so wonderful and the spirit was very strongly felt there! Blessings and miracles!!! :D We were super nervous about something falling through up until the very last moment! But it all worked out perfectly! He did have to do it twice because her knees popped out of the water... But it all worked out!! The family just looked sooo happy :D :D I love families!! It was a wonderful way to spend my last sunday in the island!! I just love the flour bluff ward sooo much! They are wonderful! The members were super supportive and brought treats and stuff too :) Yay!! Honestly, the best thing in the world for a new member/investigator is a good supportive and loving ward! It truly is a 2nd family and this ward has just EMBRACED this family :) I wish I could just take the whole ward with me to my next area! But i know there is a good ward down in the valley waiting for me so its alright!

 

Other cool things of the week,

It was freezing. I was cold. :( So we drove most of the week... not my favorite thing to do but... It happens! (its been rumored that my new area is my "sister biking area" that i've been begging the APs for.. so that could be fun!) We met lots of cool people and definitely saw some sweet miracles! We keep finding all this random less active members in the church as we are tracting.. crazy right? We started talking and they just kind of smile and cut us off as they say "oh we know.. we are members" :O what?! So we found more of those this week... Yikes! I also read a talk by Elder Bednar recently... I believe its called "chose not to be offended" There's a part where he talks about visiting less active members who have stopped coming to church because they are offended. When he would go visit them, they would talk about why they hadn't been to church and he would.. kindly... point out all the blessing they are missing out on for not being active members. It reminded me of something my parents say "throwing out the baby with the bath water" ?  I believe? or as well "cutting your nose off despite your face" something like that :) Haha

It makes me so sad to think of all the ways I am being blessed and my family as well for being active in the church and then think of how much these people are denying themselves by not being faithful to their baptismal convenants... I guess thats why I love reactivating people... :) Helping them rediscover the gospel truths and receive all those blessings our loving Heavenly Father is waiting to bestow on them!

 

The gospel is just such a blessing!! Its not difficult!! In a talk yesterday, one of members spoke on the Plan of Salvation. Is it really that hard? No! This earthly life is sooo short. Its precious! Why would you waste time not going to church and living the best you can because someone ELSE said something dumb?! ahhh!! I don't understand :) But thankful the Lord does. and He is always trying to make things right through other people. He's pretty awesome like that! Something I loved that the member said is everything is just "momentary pain" It doesn't last forever. This life? It can be momentary pain as well! Before you know it, you are back to Heaven and you wondered what happened to the time! Don't waste it!!! I know that I have a little less that 6 months left to serve the Lord with ALL my time! and I plan to use it to the fullest! Next stop Edinburg! After that? Who knows! God does! But I don't need to know right now... because the Lord's work shall roll on until all His promises are fulfilled! I testify of that in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, amen!

 

Hermana Nielson

 

53rd Week February 3, 2014

1 Year of Adventure!!!

hats right folks!!! This last week we hit ONE FULL YEAR of Hermana Nielson being... well... Hermana Nielson! The missionary! Its crazy to think that a year ago I entered the MTC and started speaking spanish! To celebrate my one year mark, I spent the whole day speaking only spanish! It was awesome :) At the end of the day I felt super accomplished because man did I struggle with the stupid language in the MTC!! I remember crying one day because I was so frustrated with it and my MTC teacher panicked (being a man and our group being his first sister missionaries he didn't know what to do!) so we went for a walk :) Good times! haha!

 

So this week has been... CRAZY! Literally Crazy! We decided as a companionship to just go for it... Start tracting... because I've been to all the potential investigators and formers in the book.. we had no other options! So we went knocking! Oh man... did we meet some CRAZY people.... It was... strange! haha. We met all sorts of everything. The island is just so funny because its such a moving area! People are in and out and from different countries and just everything under the sun! This area is a truly "preaching to all creatures and people" kind of place! Its fun :) I think the worst one we talked to this week was a guy in his garage... He was cutting up fish! The contact was bad... just the fish! I was trying so hard not to gag as he was cutting it up and there was blood on the table... SICK! Then afterwards as we were walking down the street everything smelled like fish and I just started gagging... super nasty! But its ok... my companion carries mints and those helped a lot! But I don't think I will ever be able to eat fish again... yuck...

 

So in good news!! We found a new investigator!!! and he's super cool!!! He actually just lives down the street from our recent convert Logan! and they are about the same age! We met him on thursday, then we had an appointment for friday. We prayed all morning to have a member with us and texted everyone we could but no boday was answering or could come... then as we were biking to Luis's(the investigator) house, we passed Logan outside! So we grabbed him and he got to be a member present for the lesson! How cool is that??? Recent converts doing missionary work! :D we were super excited! Until we started talking about repentance and Logan said "yeah God is very forgiving! I mean we mess up right? Like... I drank a beer last night!" and my face just dropped. We were in shock! So as we walked Logan back to his house we asked what happened and he told us how awful he felt to break the word of wisdom and he said he was gonna repent and never do it again because it made him super sick... Yikes! But he is back on the path! So thats good :) adventure adventure adventure everywhere!!

 

One last bit of excitement! Our investigator passed her baptismal interview!!! Remember that family we found randomly that the parents were members?? Their daughter is getting baptized next sunday! We are super excited and her family has really warmed up to us a lot! :) We had a lesson with them saturday night and the mom got this funny look on her face as she asked "you do stay in the same area your whole mission right?" and when we told her we actually get moved around a lot she got a really sad look on her face. I love feeling the love of the Savior for the families we work with and knowing that they love us too! Its so amazing :) I just love my people out here on the island!!! They are definitely different from all the people in my other areas... but thats the beautiful thing! God created us all so uniquely and differently so that we could learn and grow together! I love it!!

 

This last week the plan of salvation has been huge to me! People don't know they are children of God! It breaks my heart when we talk to someone and they say that we just appeared... and if there is a higher being he doesn't care about us. THATS NOT TRUE! We have a loving Heavenly Father! He cares about us! he weeps when we weep, he rejoices when we find happiness! He is wonderful and truly has a plan! This week I am going to make sure everyone we talk to knows they are a child of God and he LOVES them!!! I hope you all know that too. and if you don't, now is a great time to kneel down and ask the Lord. I promise He will bless you with that feeling to know of His love for you! He knows you. Personally. You are not another number. You are a child of GOD. And thats the best thing we can every hope to be :) Because thats what we are :) And he has BIG plans in store for each one of his beloved children.

 

I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only true church with God's power and authority on the earth today! It has been restored and it is here to stay until the Lord returns to guide his people personally. and I'm grateful to have been sharing that with everyone I meet for the past year! I love you all and wish you a happy week! Until next time!

 

Hermana Nielson

 

52nd Week January 27, 2014

Here comes the sun doo doo doo doo..

I hope you got the song reference :) We've been really excited when the sun is out here! its been so dang cold! We almost had snow this last week?! What in the world??? its super unheard of for Corpus to get down to the 30s!  Crazy crazy stuff man... who is it saying we are having global warming??

In other news! Mission life is good! Its crazy that on Thursday.... we will hit 1 year! My goodness! It doesn't feel like I've been on the mission for a year but at the same time when I think back, it feels like I've been gone for forever! Ever weirder is that fact that in May, I will have graduated from high school 2 years ago! Yikes! I'm old!! We have it all planned out to burn a dress on Thursday to celebrate one year in the mission :) I'm really excited about it! Even better is the fact I'm burning a dress Sister Kreis and I have shared that we found in the free box at the MTC. How poetic!  Haha!

Soooo as for the work out here! We are continuing to talk to every and have had some pretty funny moments! It just makes me laugh when you talk to someone and they tell you "Oh I know your church. I'm what you call a 'jack-mormon'" .... So crazy! we found a couple more of those this last week!

Well there isn't too much to report on for this week... we haven't found any new solid investigators right now but we are working hard as always! We actually had our bishop compliment us on our diligence in ward council yesterday :) That was super sweet of him. But there is a thought I'd like to share. In our relief society lesson yesterday, they were talking about visiting teaching. The teacher mentioned how even if we do visiting teaching just to get the check mark on each month, that's fine for now. Sometimes we need something to encourage us to keep going like that right? just some recognition :) The testimony comes later. All things in the church are that way I think. We do that because we want recognition sometimes... because it is expected of us... because we just want to be obedient.

But with time we realize there is something more to it. A testimony is growing. We are learning... and slowly those things we do out of habit or obedience, we do them out of love :) That's what I really love the most about church! Especially in the mission! when you see someone fulfilling and magnifying their calling our of the love they have for the members. This sister giving the lesson in Relief Society is seriously the most saintly woman I know. She doesn't help people just because of her calling or her husbands calling. She does it because they need it, and she loves them. Even if its not conveniently for her at all... she will spend hours doing the laundry for a member who can barely walk and can't even get off the couch to go to the bathroom... She will give rides to people who need to come to church because she knows they need to be there. It truly amazes me and makes me think of those heros in the book of Mormon!

Everything they did was out of love! I'm sure occasionally they did it out of obedience first... but then came the testimony! :) Its a truly awesome concept and I love that God has thought it all out for us so if we would test things out, we could know for sure :) He's pretty awesome like that.

 So that's my big ah-ha learning moment for this week! I hope that everyone is doing well and doing all they can to build the Lord's kingdom! Hastening the Work isn't just about baptizing, its about strengthening all the sheep in the flock and bringing every soul closer to the Savior :)

The church is true! Love you!

Hermana Nielson

51st Week January 20, 2014

Miracles!

It would take a lot longer than the hour I have to tell you about all the miracles Sister Vargas and I have beheld this past week!!! So I'm just going to tell you about one!!!

This week... we have literally talked to everyone again! Man... We've had rejections of the worst sort to the point a lady threw the mormon.org card back in my bike basket and walked away! That was rough... but! Its definitely improved my humility and patience and ability to speak with love when I am... less than happy ;) But as we all know, for all the bad that happens there is just as much, if not MORE good! so here is the major good that happened this week! We were biking, because we love bikes!, and came acrossed this guy. Teenager... skateboard.. you know the type! So we stopped to talk to him and asked if we could come visit his family! and he was like "yeah sure why not" and gave us his address. So we went by them later that day....

 The parents were the only ones home. They opened the door and before we could even introduce ourselves, they invited us right in! asked if we'd like some water, or bread, or a treat or anything and we sat down and started talking. Well, Turns out, they hadnt' talked to their son since we had. So he didn't tell them we were coming! They literally had just invited strangers into their house. so we explained what our purpose is and the father asked us what made our church different from the baptist church they attend. So there we went into teaching the restoration!! Literallly my first time reciting the first vision in english! :D Crazy right? I've only done it in spanish before! So we taught them the restoration and talked about the book of mormon and read a little and he said "alright. lets pray about it shall we?" so we said sure! and we all kneeled down. As he was praying he said "Lord, I offer you this Book of Mormon and ask that you reveal to me if it be true. and if it not be true, please let these sisters know." When he asked if it was true the spirit was so powerful! you could literally cut through it with a knife it was amazing! But the moment he asked if it wasn't true, it dropped! The spirit just disappeared as a no! it is true! It was crazy!

We set a return appointment with them for this week and are super excited to go back! he committed to read and truly find out if the book was true. :) Crazy miracle!! No body just lets us in out here on the island... It was a real testimony builder for me because that day we had sent out to find a family of 5 and new investigators. We found that family( a different one than the one in the story) and will see them this week as well! How crazy is that?

When we really set our mind to something and involve the Lord in it, there is no way we can fail! He will not deny us anything if it is for a righteous purpose and we are willing to sacrifice for it! We've had many long cold days in the sun(ironic i know. cold and sunny!) on those bikes and have been working super hard! I know there are more blessings in store if we remain diligent and steadfast in the Lord's work! I love being a missionary and testifying of the Saviors love! I know this church is true! It is the restored church of God and Jesus Christ!

I hope everyone has a safe this week and know that I will hopefully be enjoying some warmth on the island this week :) Love you!

Hermana Nielson

 

50th Week January 13, 2013

Rain rain go away!

My goodness... I learned what it means to truly be a bike missionary in the rain this week... That was... awesome!!! ish.. :) We have had the coldest and wettest winter North Padre Island has seen in a long time! just my luck right?! It was a lot of fun though!! on... I think it was Wednesday, we started out on the bikes and it was kind of drizzily.. we get this weird weather that it appears to be raining.. but its not.. its just all this water in the air, like fog, but its not foggy. and if you walk around in it you get wetter... and wetter... and wetter... Sister Vargas and I had a lot of fun riding around and got super wet! So then we went to a members house to dry off for a little bit and felt like we could continue on! Then we had followups with our district leader that night and when I told the Elders we were biking in the rain they didn't believe me!  Its like they think sisters don't bike or something! ;) Little do they know... Sister Nielson is obsessed with the Bikes!!!

Then on Thursday we started out.. and it started raining and I thought "hmmm maybe we should turn back." well when we decided that we should bike we started to turn around and then the rain start pouring... I mean pouring. We were drenched in water and feeling a little miserable... So we were true sisters and went back to our car! D: i know. Not as hardcore of a biker as i like to pretend sometimes. But I figured the Lord would forgive me for whimping out on a pouring rain day. and I said a prayer for the Elders in my heart to find nice people to let them in that day and dry off! so hopefully that worked out for them!

We've been continuing with our speaking to everyone and man... I've gotten really good at it! The moment I see a person it takes about three seconds for me to think "well.. maybe not..." but then i find myself turning the bike around and yelling out to them. Who would of thought I couldn't order for myself in a restaurant just one year ago??

So we have been seeing some awesome less active miracles!!! I swear! When you talk to everyone out here you found hidden lessactives! They are just popping out of the woodwork! Bishop called us this last week and said a lady had contacted him wanting to get active in the church again. She lives in Port Aransas and has been inactive for the last year and half because of her husband passing away. So we went to meet her on Saturday night... She's amazing!!! She said shes changing her work schedule and will be in church next week and she has a 16 year old son and they are gonna come back! Super cool right?? She really was the sweetest! I just LOVE working with lessactives! If that was all I did in my mission, I'd be totally happy! although i do love helping people get baptized :) Thats super wonderful!

As for church... we had TWO less active families come to church!!! and remember that family we found with the daughter that hasn't been baptized? She's 13? yeah they came to church too!!! Sister Vargas was soo excited! I had to play piano for Flour Bluff ward so i was stuck up there while she greeted everyone. Then I looked down and she had the biggest grin as she pointed to the family seated a few rows in front of her! I'm so grateful for all the little tender mercies we have seen from the Lord for our obedience this last week!!!

I know the Lord loves us and has crazy cool miracles for us if only we will seek them out and do our part to be worthy to receive them! He is always ready and willing to welcome people back in with open arms and love :) This church is true and I'm so grateful to be a missionary here in Corpus Christi!!

Paz!

Hermana Nielson

 

49th Week January 6, 2014

New Companion Madness!

 

Well! A new transfer has begun here in the great Texas McAllen Mission and I am super excited for it!

It was a tearful adventure sending Sister Diaz off to her next area but I know she will do great!

My new companion is super awesome! Her name is Sister Vargas! Her family is from the Dominican Republic so she has more native Spanish that I can learn from :) and Dominican Spanish has different slang from Guatemalan and Mexican so I'm learning all sorts of things haha! We have already had some awesome success and this transfer is looking like its gonna be full of miracles and service!

I've decided every transfer seems to have a theme and this transfer is the one of service so far! We got to serve a potential investigator out in Port Aransas this last week! We went out and painted his trailer and will be helping them out again this week and then we got to go clean the house of a less active member on the bluff that the elders can't visit because its a grandmother and her granddaughter.

I seriously love service so much! Its an amazing feeling putting aside your own worries and concerns and just focusing on someone else for a moment. I love it!

This last week was also New Years! Happy New Years to all! We spent our new years eve in the church with the zone :) we watched Mulan and ate soo much candy! We took our big box of Christmas candy and the elders put a good dent in our supply... but Sister Vargas and I are still grabbing a piece out of it every time we walk by it on the counter in our apartment... Its pretty gross but its all stuff I like so... I don't mind :)

Well! I learned something new this week. This week I was studying on Humility. Because I've realized that I am a very proud and spoiled person sometimes. I look at all the things I have and think I need more and then I see these people we are serving and man... it really puts me in my place!

The thing I've learned about humility came out of la Guia... its like the Spanish version of the bible dictionary. to paraphrase, it tells us that being humble is being moldable to the will of the Lord. We need to be willing to bend to our Fathers will and mold ourselves into what He desires that we become. I think I get a little stiff sometimes in my life and like to think that I am being humble by just admitting my faults but i'm really not because i'm not molding myself to what the Lord desires of me.

This transfer I plan to be as flexible as possible! :D partially because I"m going to use my exercise time wiser but mostly because I am going to aim to be more accepting to the mold the Lord has created for me. I know that He knows my perfect form and just wants me to become it, but it all starts with my willingness to comply and allow myself to become as great as I can be!

i invite you as well to aim to be more humble this week! Not just in your words and deeds of accepting your faults, but be willing to comply with the will of the Father in your life! When the Spirit whispers something you need to change, try it before you let the prideful side take over and tell Him you are fine ;)

I know that these next couple of weeks are going to be awesome! I'm so excited for this new year because i will spend half of it as a consecrated full time servant of the Lord and the second half learning how to be that in a more worldly format! I love the Savior and this time i have to serve him and wish you all a Happy New Year!!!

Con Carino desde Texas,

Hermana Nielson

48th Week December 30, 2013

Feliz Navidad!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years to all!!!!

Sister Diaz and I tried making cards to send out to everyone but our Walmart machines have been out of commission so it didn't happen :( Sorry! But thank you to all who sent us packages and letters!!! We are gonna get thank you notes written today :)

Literally this Christmas was amazing and crazy! I was blown away by all the wonderful things that ended up in our apartment and they are all being very well enjoyed :)  We have a big box clear full of candy and stuff that we will be taking to the zone new years eve party! We are ordered to be at the stake center tomorrow at 6pm so that we aren't out and about on New years eve! not exactly a safe holiday I guess ;) ah well! the fun we have as missionaries!!

Sooo I don't have too much to write about because I got to Skype home and talk to my lovely family :) It was super cool meeting my sister in law for the first time and getting to see my ADORABLE nephew show off his train underwear :) I love him! Even my companion admitted that I have the cutest nephew :)

But I do have something I want to share with you all.

Yesterday in church my companion got to speak! It was her first time giving an English talk in a big ward and she was terrified. (she's adorable like that. 27 and sometimes scared of her shadow but shes wonderful!) Her topic was sacrifice and what she had to sacrifice to go on a mission. as I listened to her speak... I realized how much the Lord truly has given us and how much we don't realize it. I remember when I was younger my parents taking something away from me for my acting out and always saying "a phone is a privilege not a right!" or "the car is a privilege not a right!"  Being on a mission truly is a privilege the Lord has given me and i'm so grateful! I love being a missionary and sharing the gospel. even when we don't have investigators and its street contacting all day... its still fun. I've literally met the strangest yet coolest people this year as I've been on a mission! In the MTC, in Laredo, in Mcallen and here in Corpus!

I bet the Lord laughs sometimes when we realize just how different everyone is from us! How does He create so many people so differently?! He's amazing!

Ha I realized I've gone into rambling so I better finish this up!

Basically what I have to say is this, the Lord lives! He loves us! We are here to remind everyone else of that fact! Whether they accept or not... that's their problem when we get to face the Lord! But as for me, I know He's there and this is His great work we are all a part of!

Thank you again to everyone for the Christmas wishes! I wish you a great new year! Set some goals that involve the Lord this year and I know He will richly bless you!

Love you all!

Hermana Nielson en la Isla

47th Week December 23, 2013

Merry Navidad y Feliz Christmas!!

Hello World! Its Christmas even in south Texas where the sun is hot! The ocean is still across the street and the palm trees give us the best shade :) Haha! Just kidding! Its actually cold again so I can't brag about a sunburn on Christmas just yet :)

This last week we had our mission christmas party! It was a blast! They split the party in two, so the northern zones had a party and the southern zones had a party! Our party included Corpus Christi zone, Sinton Zone, Laredo North zone and Laredo south! Lots of missionaries! Its so cool to be around a big group of missionaries because the spirit is soo strong!!

I need to give everyone a BIG thank you from President and Sister Maluenda! all the mission parents were so generous that it worked out that instead of every missionary getting one present, everyone got TWO! :) So Thank you to all who helped out with that! it was very much appreciated! Especially by those whose parents couldn't afford to send a christmas package... Now the bad news on packages... if you sent Sister Diaz and I something and it wasn't in mission office by last monday... we haven't gotten it yet :( The hope is that we will get it today but it probably wont happen... If we are lucky, they will do a training on thursday or friday and someone will go down to McAllen and bring up all the stray Christmas presents! But its ok :) We do have a couple packages under the tree that i keep trying to convince Sister Diaz we should open early and she gives me an angry mother look and tells me walk away from the baby tree... :) I have a great companion! She also has kept me inline with our advent calender and made sure I only opened one a day. Darn it!

It just doesn't feel like Christmas when you aren't home! But I have something really cool I have learned this last week. Its about patience! I've been a little frustrated with this transfer and kind of had a difficult time motivating myself... Not a fun adventure but hey! Everything in life has its ups and downs right? So this last week while talking to Sister Kreis, she pointed out to me that maybe I need to learn patience. Of course at first I thought "I AM PATIENT! THATS NOT IT!" But... as we all know... when you get defensive... thats usually what you need work on... So I've been questioning and trying to figure out exactly WHAT IS patience...

Here is my definition:

Patience is having an eternal perspective tha things will be better even when you are miserable.

I guess that sounds a little... pessimistic. But its super not. here's why, we can be patient with people when they upset us when we realize that they aren't perfect... they are doing the best they can to become what God wants and we are never done improving. We can be patient with ourself when we realize that we have faults for a reason, God gives us imperfections so that we will turn to Him and accept/seek the help we need. We are patient with circumstances when we realize that everything happens for a reason and know that things will get better. Thats something that has helped me a lot.. Nathan told me before I left to just remember one thing "It gets better." That has kept me going quite a few times in the mission!

So moral of the story, Patience is looking for the bright side! Its being willing to go with the blows and know that something is better on the other side. Me? I'm not a patience person most of the time :) but man have I learned a lot of it this last week! There is always something better coming! I think the Lord was incredibly patient in His suffering for us because He knew that because of the pain He felt, we would be able to all return back to Him to be with our Heavenly Father again! How wonderful is that? :) I'm grateful for a Savior that loves me enough to suffer for my mistakes, and a family that loves me enough to suffer without me for 18 months so I can help other people know of our Savior's love! ;) I know this Christmas is extra special because I'm learning the true meaning and worth of my eternal family and the eternal family I will have with my future husband some day! The gospel is just wonderful! I hope you all find joy in this Christmas season and learn a little patience as things don't go perfect with present opening, or the Christmas party isnt exactly how you planned. The Lord has something better in store in the future! Love you all!

Feliz Navidad de la isla de Norte Padre! :)

Hermana Nielson

 

46th Week December 16, 2013

Talking to.... EVERYONE!!

Oh man has this week been some fun :) We have been challenged to talk to literally everyone. and I know as missionaries we always say we talk to everyone but.... this time its for real!

I literally chased a man down that was running and gave him a pass along card. Yes. We are talking to EVERYONE!

So here's the really cool miracle of the week!

Thursday we had exchanges! Yay! I got to work with Sister Sanders in the Island. It was a blast! We have been putting an extra effort on the talk to everyone thing, but sister sanders really showed me how its done! We were literally chasing people down on our bikes and going on completely random streets just because we saw someone. as we were biking down a street we saw a guy moving stuff into a house and disappear in the open door. Sister Sanders looked at me and said "How much faith would it take to follow him in and talk to him?!" Conveniently, my common sense won on that battle and we rang the doorbell instead and met this german sounding man who has been to salt lake and seen the temple and everything! Way cool right? he wasn't interested in listening... but one of the guys moving stuff for him was so we got his address and sent it to the elders in his area! Little miracles :)

Then we had a big miracle!! As we were biking back to the car, we saw a man pull into his driveway. Sister Sanders looked at me and I could see in her face she wasn't go to leave the area without talking to him. So we turned around and basically trapped him in his car as we talked :) haha but! he invited us back to come visit his family the next day!

Part TWO!

Sister Diaz and I go back the next day, we were welcomed right in and everything! We talked casually for a second and then I decided to go for it and start the preaching! haha :) We asked them their experience with the church to which they replied "oh we lived in Utah and were baptized there. " What?! They moved away and stopped going because the church wasn't the same in where they moved to outside of Utah! How crazy is that? But they have a 13 year old daughter who hasn't been baptized and they know she needs to be so they had been talking earlier that day that they needed to come back to church. Sooo! We have an appointment with them tomorrow to meet the bishop and they are coming to our ward party on Thursday! How cool is that?! Little miracles from just... chasing people down and talking to them :)

We also met a lady who was married to a member! But he died in a car accident :( Super sad.. she was very sweet though and lives with a woman who fixes accordions... cool right?! I may have found my future career!

On a more serious note ;) Merry Christmas almost! This holiday has been very strange not being home. Its definitely not warm currently but there isn't any snow... so it just doesn't feel like the holidays here. But I have a scripture for everyone to ponder this season! Its Moroni 7:49. I know that as we pray for that Christlike love and do all we can to gain it, we will help others in ways we never imagine. I know that sometimes in the mission it feels like I'm not doing any good because maybe we haven't baptized in a while... but other things are happening when we don't realize it. There are always miracles in the works! Always! We just need to pray with all energy of heart and look for them in their appropriate time! I love the gospel! I love the love I feel for the people here even when they tell me that missionaries have been trying to convert them for years and they aren't interested! God loves all! The church is true! and miracles are waiting for us EVERYWHERE! :D Love you!

Hermana Nielson

 

45th Week December 9, 2013

bautismo!!

44th Week December 2, 2013

So Cold!!!

oh man did sister diaz and I freeze this week!! We got down to 45 degrees out on the island... I know that doesn't sound cold... but with lots of humidity and wind from all directions... its bad!

Sooo I Just want to write a little about Thanksgiving and our miracle investigator today!

First off, it was weird not being home for thanksgiving. I was thinking back and realized that this time last year I was in New Mexico or driving home, or hanging out at the York's house all the time... :( its a little weird to do that! Most of my mission I've been able to use as an example "if you told me one year ago that I would be in texas riding a bike in a skirt! I would tell you that you were crazy!" but one year ago now, I was getting ready for this crazy adventure and stressing every minute of it!

So.... This thanksgiving was by far the biggest commandment breaker of them all. Sister Diaz, being from Guatemala, has never had a thanksgiving! (American holiday right?) Knowing this, I decided to be a good senior companion and arrange appointments for THREE thanksgiving dinners :) I figured that since its my only one as a missionary, I should enjoy it to the fullest right? Oh man... my father and brothers would be so proud. We ate.... and ate.... and ATE! and my companion looked at me when we got to the third house and asked "do I really have to eat here sister nielson....?" I smiled and told her "No worries! They just wanna feed us more pie here!" So it was a glorious and gluttonous day to say the least! Some super good food and some... eh... could have been improved. It didn't compare at all to my mom's cooking though! Momma always wins that competition.

SO! GOLDEN INVESTIGATOR!! Our awesome investigator I have mentioned briefly has decided he wants to be baptized this sunday!! Sister Diaz and I are thrilled! We can't wait! we have been helping him quit smoking and seriously he is a miracle child. He will be my first white baptism! He is awesome though really! He just understands everything immediately and already believes it. Its awesome! So he just has to fight the addiction this week and we will be baptizing on sunday! I'll let you know next week what happens :)

Now for my thing I learned this week! I believe I've said this before, but its been... going through my head a lot lately! Everything we have been through in the past has prepared us for this moment we are living. Everything. We are always being prepared for the next moment we will live. That's what this life is intended for! To prepare us for the next one. we never are done learning, experiencing and trying new things and I love that! No matter how hard it gets, it can always be harder right? Which is actually a pretty optimistic thing if you think about it! The things we are going through are easy compared to what they could be if we didn't have the gospel with us.  And that's why we have missionaries :) to bring the gospel to those that are struggling and don't have the peace that the fullness of the gospel brings! I really love the people out here. Even the ones that tell us they don't want to listen... they are wonderful and just don't realize what a blessing it could be in their lives!

I know the Church is True! God lives and loves us and we are all enlisted until the work is done and the Lord shall welcome us back into His loving arms!

Love you all!

Be safe and share this precious gift we have!

Sister Nielson

43rd Week, November 25, 2013

Real life problems...

So in starting my mission I had this fuzzy warm picture in my head that I wouldn't have to deal with any real life problems right?  Then came some flat tires... a leaking air conditioner, and today...

I unclogged our tub. Yes dad. I did it all by my self while my companion gagged and watched. It was disgusting and reminded me that real life problems still exist... major bummer!

Ah well! Conveniently, in the mission, we have lots of good things that make up for those silly little real life problems we all have to deal with! I'll list off something good that happened every day!

Monday: We had a pretty normal pday! Lots of adventure! Then we got to have dinner at a members house with the elders. These members were called as temple workers in dallas back in their youth(they are quite old now..) and served there for 13 months! The brother told us a lot about their cool experiences there and how it blessed their family a lot! So that was cool!

Tuesday! Transfer day! Luckily sister Diaz and I get to stay together here in North Padre Island for another 6 weeks! Sister Diaz was very relieved that she gets her first Thanksgiving and Christmas away from home with someone she knows very well. All of our members were really excited to keep us another transfer too so that's good! We also had an awesome lesson with our investigator that came to church! He is so great! We taught him about the restoration and he felt like God can do anything so why couldn't he appear to Joseph Smith?!

Wednesday! Today sister Diaz and I started our two day stretch of all Spanish Oh man.. it was tough at first! Speaking nothing but Spanish to your companion is intense... obviously it was easy for her because Spanish is her native language... but I definitely had to get creative with describing things when I didn't know the word I wanted to use... so much laughing happened this day... haha!

Thursday! We had another awesome lesson with our investigator and just read in the book of Mormon with him! He is super awesome. When we asked if he has prayed about the things we have talked about he told us "of course... and I feel like its all true! It just makes sense!" Sister Diaz and I almost started crying when we got back to the car because we were so excited! Yes I know.. we are such girls! But its exciting! We also biked 2 miles in 10 minutes this day... that may not seem that exciting... but man we were booking it! We had to get to our appointment fast and our member was meeting us there. Sister Diaz was NOT happy with me and we were both breathing pretty hard when we got there.. but it was worth it to have the great lesson!

Friday! Today it got cold... I know everyone up north is just laughing at me when I complain about cold here... but man! Humid cold is awful! It just sinks down into your bones and makes you miserable! Luckily, my compy bought some long sleeve shirts Monday and she was thrilled to use tights for the first time! haha oh the good things I am teaching her! :) I was very grateful this day that I didn't send home my tights back when I was in the mtc. but I also pictured that moment when I boxed up my warm coat and sent it home and wished I hadn't... cold days are few and far between here, but they are still pretty intense! We did have another awesome lesson though! my little greenie got to teach her first real chastity lesson! She was SOOOO nervous before we went in. But, luckily... as soon as we explained what chastity was, our investigator got the whole picture and we didn't have to explain too much haha! He committed to living it and we are thrilled! haha

Saturday! Even COLDER! ahhh! It got down to 45 degrees today! I know! Its not snowing weather... but with the humidity and the wind... it was freezing! We sat in the car quite a few times with the heat on full blast just to warm up before going and knocking on another door. Not so fun... but we did get to serve one of our less actives today! Yay! We have been trying to get an appointment with her for a long time and finally I got her to agree to let us come clean her house. so we got in, cleaned a LOT of dog hair and shared a quick message(: She really is a sweet lady! She's just really busy and wants to be able to have her weekend off from work and school... hopefully we can help her realize that church IS the best break from all of those things!

Sunday! We don't have a ward pianist/organist in flour bluff... so one of the members of the bishopric and I switch back and forth with playing. Today I played... and then our member in the singles branch who plays is moving to Houston so I get to play for the singles branch too! What a blessing to be able to play and help them out! I'm definitely not perfect at it, but the members are patient with me and grateful to have someone that will play!

Monday morning... I cleaned the bathroom today... I hate cleaning the bathroom... usually my companion lets me take the rest of the apartment and she does the bathrooms... but I took my turn in there today and had to clean out the tub drain... nasty... but now it drains like a dream! :) Thank goodness dad always made me stand by and watch as he cleaned out my tub or else I wouldn't have known how to do it...

Well. as you can see... missionaries go through real life things as well, the bonus for us it that our main focus and concentration is on the spiritual things and not on the real life problems. Something I've been really grateful for this week and knowing that despite the frustration I feel here sometimes, The Lord has a greater plan. Each little thing we go through is preparing us for the next big thing. Be it big or small. we are always being prepared! Just like our friends, family, and neighbors are being prepared for the gospel! We are preparing. Always preparing. and some day, we will see the true fruits of our labors! No importa si esta en este vida or la proxima! La cosa mas importante que todo, es si estamos trabajando duro y enfocandonos en lo que El Senor quiere que hagamos! :)

I know the Savior lives! I know He loves me and understands all the good and bad happening every day! Everything we have been through, has prepared us for this exact moment in our lives! And everything happening now is preparing us for whats up next! Take it on with a smile! and write your favorite missionary a letter ;) Haha! Happy Thanksgiving!

Con Carino,

Hermana Nielson

 

42nd Week November 18, 2013

Miracle Investigator!!!!

Oh what a crazy week it has been!!! We had a huge miracle moment though! Wednesday was our exchanges with the STLs! Always fun! I actually got to leave my area this time and go work in there area. So as we were working we got a text from the zone leaders. (Whenever someone accepts a specific day for baptism, we send the text to the zone leaders with some catchy like "Tommy wants to be like Christ and get baptized! #9yearoldbaptisms")

That said "Logan wants to be baptized on Dec 15!! #soprepared #exchangemiracles #NorthPadreIsland" Needless to say, I was stoked and so proud of Sister Diaz!! haha it was sister diaz and sister kreis working the island at the time! So the next day I got to meet logan and we talked to him about the doctrine of Christ, had a lesson again on Friday, then he came to church sunday!!! He's a super cool guy! He just moved in with his parents about 5 months ago and is currently working at a bar(we are gonna find him a new job!)

We had a super awesome moment with him though. He came to the singles branch and the branch president lives in our area, so he gave him a ride! But he had to come an hour early. So we decided to give him a tour of the church and talk about the sacrament. as we read through the sacrament prayers, we had Logan read the prayer for the water. After words I felt like I should let him know that although the prayer says "wine" we use water. and he said that makes sense because of underage kids in the congregation... then we explained a little bit about the word of wisdom and how we don't drink at all and he told us that he really wants to quit smoking and drinking. Fast forward to after church!!!

He was feeling a little anxious after church so we asked what was up and he mentioned he didn't bring any cigarettes with him and that it had been 4 hours since he had one. We asked if he'd like a blessing and one of the elders explained what it was. Immediately he said "oh yeah! I definitely need one of those so I can quit smoking!" so actually a member of the ward gave him a blessing, then gave him a ride home! He is a super awesome investigator! We have another appointment with him tomorrow and we are excited to go and see where he is at in his Book of Mormon reading.

 

Finding Logan has been an awesome tender mercy of the Lord! Sister Diaz and I have really been struggling for the past little while with our area. Especially when people who don't understand the area kept telling us we weren't doing enough or kept giving us suggestions of things we were already trying... It was an awesome feeling to have someone at church that really wants to know and is doing what he needs to in order to understand God's plan for him! It also felt good to have some visible proof of the hardwork we are putting in to our area! We have high hopes for this next transfer together and hope to see lots of miracles!!

 

Oh by the way! Transfers are tomorrow! Sister Diaz and I will be getting a third transfer together here on the island! We've been told its going to be cooling down a lot too... we rode the bikes in sweaters and tights this last week and froze! Man... 50 degrees just isn't warm at all when you are used to a good 80-90....

Ah well! I know its all up to the Lord and for sure he is going to make things work according to HIS plan. No matter how smart, hard working, or bold we think we are, if its not in His time, it wont work! A hard lesson to learn and swallow... but very true! I hope all is well in your homes and families and you are diligently searching the scriptures for help! I've taught sister Diaz how to enjoy the scriptures in English and put the stories in context she can relate to... this last week we made the lamanites look like Orcs (Lord of the Rings) when they were attacking the Anti-Nephi-Lehites (: Lots of fun! Love you all! The church is true!

 

Hermana Nielson

41st Week, November 11, 2013

Fuuun in the suuun everybody wants some!

Haha oh how nice this last week has been. Sister Diaz and I wore SWEATERS when we were biking?! How crazy is that??? It got down to a freezing 60 degrees! Haha how sad is that? we had a less active member call us "Texas Wusses" because we were freezing! I just love South Texas!

Remember how we have been biking a lot? Yup we biked every single day this last week! Except Sunday because we couldn't decide if that would count as breaking the Sabbath or not considering the fact we don't HAVE to bike... But it was fun! Sister Diaz has learned how to take one hand off the handle bars and stand up while she is riding! I'm one proud momma missionary!

 

so spiritually fun story for this last week... Sister Diaz invited someone to be baptized! And he accepted!!! Its the first investigator we have had out here that has accepted the invitation to be baptized and we are thrilled! After he said yes sister diaz froze and just looked at me. She didn't know what to do. It was pretty great(: being the good companion I am, I took over the lesson again and set the expectations with him!  ah man! Having investigators that want to learn is seriously the best thing in the whole wide world!!

 

Now I wanna share something I have been thinking about a lot lately...

Missionary work isn't just baptizing. I know I've said that before... but it is a HUGE part of it. Don't get me wrong. But when we think about missionary work in the ward, people get hung up on two ideas. They think that we shouldn't be trying to pull in new members when we have so many less actives on the rolls... we need to just focus on them! Or then get stuck on "oh we need investigators and baptisms! go find them missionaries!" Until we figure out how to balance the two... its very hard for us to bring about success in the Lord's work!

I know a lot of success I feel like I've had in the mission has come from helping people be reactivated... but the joy you feel watching someone come out of the waters of baptism... Nothing quite compares to it!! We have to find an equal balance and you can't leave it all to the full time missionaries! I only have 8 and a half more months to be here in south texas full time preaching the gospel...  When I leave this area... I may never come back or see these people again. (I hope not! but its possible...) Members have to do the work and fellowship!! You need to reach out to your friends... multiple times in the mission I have kicked myself for never saying anything to my friends that are not members. That error will be corrected when I get home! Trust me!

So I guess over all... my message to you today... is don't get stuck on way form of missionary work! reach out and try different things. we were told by our leaders this last week that if we aren't finding investigators in the normal missionary ways... get creative! So we are going to get creative this week! Hellooo Beach! Haha!

Well all! I love you truly and so does the Lord! This church is true and the work will roll on whether we help it or not. Might as well jump in line right? Bring those beloved friends we have to the tree of life and help them partake!

Con carino de la isla de norte padre,

La Hermana Nielson!

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40th Week, November 4, 2013

Because it just wouldn't be the island!

If things weren't crazy! Haha! Oh what an interesting week we have had indeed!

Soo... this last Wednesday.. I hit my half way mark! How crazy is that?! I have now been serving as a missionary for 9 whole months! It doesn't seem real but at the same time... it seems like forever since I last saw my family or talked to them on the phone! (thank goodness Christmas is so close!)

I keep telling my greenie, the days pass long but the weeks pass short! she's realized how true that is as we only have 2 weeks left of this transfer and she's already getting the feelings that I will be leaving her in this area! Yikes! Guess we will have to wait and see on that one!

So! I finally got my packages from the mission home! Sister Diaz had some medicine in a package there so they brought us our packages Wednesday night after returning from zone leader conference. I received SIX packages!!! Oh man I almost cried I was so excited and happy. The best part was, a few of them had sister diaz name on them too so she was super excited! :D (thank you sooo much to those who added stuff in there for her! of course I share everything but its even better when she gets things specifically for her) I seriously am sooo grateful for the support and love I feel from my friends and family back at home! I think I'm the luckiest missionary in the world to have so many people that I love and love me too! So thank you to all who sent some goodies to south texas in the past month!

So I think my best story I have to tell is about Halloween! To be honest, it was my most trunky day I have had in the mission. I truly felt homesick. all week I kept thinking about the fact that you'd be eating hotdogs with out me and it made me sad. So sister Diaz and I bought all the stuff for hotdogs last Monday and we made our own Halloween hotdogs for lunch! They weren't as good as off the grill at home with homemade rootbeer... but it was a blast! Sister Diaz has decided she will continue the tradition for the rest of her life! I told her I'd send her pictures next year when I'm at home of us doing hotdogs so she could truly understand how wonderful Halloween at the Nielson home is!

I feel as though I should share something I've learned in the past 9 months since I have hit my half way mark... I guess... the thing that really comes to mind is how quickly this journey passes by. When we left our heavenly father's presence I think it was very difficult... as excited as we were to start this life journey we were probably a little scared. We knew the challenges we would face. We knew that there would be days when we just wouldn't know what to do. But our father in heaven reassured us that it would all be worth it and we would be back with him some day. That is how the mission is as well. We start this adventure so excited! We've read other missionaries letters, we've learned about the area, but honestly nothing could truly prepare us for the adventure. Every day there is something unexpected no matter how good you are at your nightly planning! That's what the life and mission are about. Making the best plans you can with the time you have, but being willing to follow what the spirits whispers to you even when you don't understand it. The time is short and we can't wait a single second.

I know the next 9 months and gonna fly by as fast as the past 9 months! But I am ready for the adventure and excited to put my faith to work to see miracles! I'm grateful to my Lord and Savior for the mighty miracles he has worked back at home! I love you all! Be Safe and know the Savior Loves you! Our Father in Heaven loves you! The church is true!

Con Carino,

Hermana Nielson