79th Week, July 28, 2014

lo se!

Its a bitter sweet feeling knowing that my mission has come to its end! As with all things in life, there is always a beginning, and there has to be an end! But this doesn't mean an end to me being a missionary. Just to full time mission work :)

I am so truly grateful for these 18 months I have had to focus completely on others and help others to grow spiritual. The miracles I have seen in my life, my family's and the people I have worked with while I have been here have truly confirmed my testimony of the Lord's love for us.

I know that my Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ lives. I know that He loves me and that He knows me and each and every one of us. He is merciful and wants us to return back to our Heavenly Father so we can live forever in happiness.

I know that the Book of Mormon is a true record of God's dealings with His children :) I love the Book of Mormon and have found so much peace and comfort as I've read it and applied its teaching to my life. I know that as well the Bible is the word of God and can bring us that same peace.

I know that Joseph Smith was called by God to be the prophet of the restoration. I'm grateful for the sacrifices of the early saints to restore the true church of God. I'm grateful for their examples of faith and trust in the plans God has for each of us.

I know that God loves me. That's something I"ve learned for sure in my mission and life. God's love is ALWAYS there for us. When we feel alone, He is carrying us and we need only pray to feel the strength He is offering.

I testify that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is God's only true church on the earth today.

I want each of you to know that I have a testimony of all of these things and I know that it is through the Gospel and our families that we can find eternal happiness. The family is key to God's plan and I know that's why Satan is trying sooo hard to destroy it.

God wants us to be happy.

I know that through the atonement of Christ we can be healed. We can be forgiven of every wrong doing and return to live with God some day. I know that is God's plan for each and every person.

I know that missionary work is so important for full time missionaries, and for everyone else as well! We are all missionaries and pioneers of our day bringing the world His truth by being examples and fighting until the end to keep our values in God strong! I love my Savior and I'm so grateful for all the trials I've had in my life that have made me who I am today and I'm excited to keep on learning and coming closer to my Savior when I get home :)

This isn't the end of my mission really, its just another transfer, with new responsibilities and assignments. That's what every step in life is :) Just another transfer with a new companion! Only this time, I'm going to choose my companion ;)

Thank you to everyone for all your support and prayers through-out my mission! They have truly made a difference and helped me in more ways than I can explain! I love you all and will see you soon!

Keep the fire burning of missionary work in your hearts always!  :) Love you!

Hermana Courtenae Irene Nielson

78th Week, July

77th Week, July 14, 2014

Stereotypical missionary moments!

You know when you are little you just picture the missionaries right? and what a mission would be like! all those cool things that always happen to missionaries.. well i had a couple of those this last week that made me feel like a real missionary :) I love when that happens! First off,

we had exchanges on Saturday! SOoo much fun :) Exchanges are always a blast but this one was a little different from the last.

It was weird because i realized it was my last official exchange... wooo that's weird! But it was fun. I left Sister Tovar in our area for the first time (man was she scared!) and i went to an area in McAllen to be with one of the STLs. it was a little awkward because the sister i was with has only be out for about 11 months..  and well... I've been out a little bit longer! So she kept trying to give me this very basic mission advice of all these things I should change in the next two weeks and it definitely bugged me a little... but I realized  that she is doing the best she can :) So I just smiled and took her advice and will apply it the best i can with this little bit of time I have ;) Well! The stereotypical missionary moment that day was that we were biking! Man was I happy to be on the bike again! We biked from 1pm-7pm :) soooo great! but... it rained.. and i don't mean a cute little drizzling rain like we sometimes get. It was one of those POURING Texas rains where the street floods and everything! We were soaked! and as we road through the streets, drenched, all i could think was "man I'm gonna miss this!! when else will i have the opportunity to ride a bike, in a skirt, in a Texas rain storm?!" :) But the downside was, its still hot when it rains. So we got into someone's house and they were blasting the AC. Soaking wet + AC = Cold cold missionaries!!

So that was a great moment on Saturday! We had a lot of success though and Sister Tovar reported back to me that night and said that they only got lost twice! :) I love her! She's such a cute little missionary haha.

Next stereotypical missionary moment... Never in my mission have i had a baptism fall through the day of the baptism... I thought I was pretty cool for that... welp... it happened! We were supposed to be baptizing these two little girls yesterday... first it got a little rocky when the 8 year old informed us she wasn't ready to be baptized... so we told her ok. we can wait til next week and your sister will get baptized this sunday :) all was good! everything in place! Then we got a text from the mom sunday morning saying that the dad of the girls is in town and they wouldn't be attending church... We tried EVERYTHING. we went to their house, knocked on the door, tried talking to the dad (he wouldn't come out)... it was bad :( we were soo bummed. But we figure, there is a reason. If the girls aren't supposed to get baptized right now, we will do everything we can to help them make the right choice, then leave it up to the Lord! Agency is a pain sometimes! a blessing and curse!

So those were my two really good stereotypical moments :)

also this week, we had interviews with President!! Love that!!! It was soooo good!!!! :) I love interviews! Seriously the best thing ever! Not too much detail more on that... but just know .... it was great :)

We also had FIRST COMP TRAINING! WOOOHOO! :) haha this is the big meeting with all the trainers and their greenies where we go and talk about the struggles or things going well :) There was something president shared that i loved and I think applies to EVERYONE in some way. He said that there are moments in the mission we must choose between being a "good missionary" and being a "good companion". Example, when our companion is sick and we really want to go out and work but you know they are miserable, sometimes you have to take time to stay home and get better... that just happens. In life, I think we sometimes have to choose between being a "good person" in the world's eyes vs a "good person" in the eyes of God. When we choose the world's way because we fear man more than God we are being a good person in the world's eyes... But when we make those hard decisions and choose the path God desires for us... we are becoming a good person in God's eyes. Its hard to see the line sometimes i think though... because God does want us to succeed in life and enjoy it! But there are more important things to be done sometimes than what we think is the most important! Just looking for that eternal perspective ;)

So that's kind of been on my mind for a while! I know that when I get home, i want to be able to look back and feel that I was a good missionary and good companion! Then I want to be able to make good choices to be a good person in the eyes of my Heavenly Father :) That is the real goal :) Show Him that I am grateful for all I've been given by using it in the BEST way possible :)

I invite you all to think about that this week as you make decisions every day! "Am I doing this to be recognized by the world as a good person? Or so that my God will know that I love him and follow Him?" I know that is the question I will be asking myself every day as I finish out my time here in the Great TEXAS MCALLEN MISSION! :D I LOVE being a missionary and I love serving my Savior! I know that the work doesn't stop when you take the tag off, but I have to make the BEST of every last moment I've got as a full time servant of the Lord Jesus Christ! I know that this is His work and that He desires the salvation and happiness of all of us! and I share this with you in his Sacred name, even Jesus Christ, amen!

Hermana Nielson

76th Week, July 7, 2014

Happy 4th of July!!!

I'm excited for next 4th of July when I can see the fireworks and don't just hear them and feel like Texas is trying to attack Mexico or something! We literally heard fireworks all night long and have great neighbers that like to blast Tejano music :) Yup! That's the 4th of July in Texas :)

I'm sure we had a crazy cool week.. but the time is passing so fast and slow that I can barely remember it! So I'll just tell you about the 4th :) We started the day with a breakfast from the ward! That was fun :) they had us missionaries sing a musical number... :) That was amusing to say the least ;) But it was good and the members loved it! Then we went and  did service for a member! They manage apartments so we were helping them clean up an apartment that had recently be vacated. It was fun because we got to paint :) I told sister Tovar all about my lunch ladies I did paint crew with... I think that job was definitely preparing me for the mission!

We only got to go out and work for 3 hours on the 4th because it gets a little dangerous here... so we had to be in by 630 and it was weekly planning day so we didn't get to leave until 3! Yikes! but we definitely made the best of the time we could and went hunting for people :)

As for people we are teaching! We are hoping to have 2 baptisms this sunday with the girls that we have been teaching :) Their mom is a little flojo still.... Flojo... I can't remember that word in English.. kind of like lazy. But she is still super wanting the girls to be baptized so we are going today to see what the game plan is :) Then! We are teaching another family! But not just a family... We found these two kids outside one day and taught them a little right? They are 14 and 13. Then we went back to teach their mom and met their brother and his wife and set baptismal dates with all of them! Then they referred us over to her other daughter and her husband and they are committed to baptism on the 3rd of August! Unfortunately the brother and his wife actually live in the elders area... but its still cool that all of them are being taught by missionaries currently! We are really excited and hope to see them progress quickly and maybe get baptized before I leave ;)

That was kind of our main excitement this last week :) We did a lot of walking because we are supposed to do 2 bike days a week in our mission but because of sister Tovar's arm we can't bike... Speaking of which! Everything is healing well and she got her new cast today :) We went for purple this time ;) Definitely a lot of fun right there :) I didn't know that your skin peels off when you get a cast off... Gross!

On a spiritual note... I was reading in the book of Ruth in the bible :) Well actually I read in Spanish so it was the book of Rut. :) But as I was reading I was thinking about the future and things that are important... I've been keeping this little "trunky" list in the back of my planner where I write the things I want to do and what not for after the mission :) As I was reading I was thinking about eternal marriage and how when you get married, people joke that you marry the family. But really... you do! you are sealed to that family! So you have to be loyal to them! Its kind of like the mafia.... :) only not! Haha! But it just made me think a lot about how its super important to not only love the person you marry, but love their family as well and be good to them! Kind of like a mission companion! You have to love your companion and naturally your family loves your companion and wants to help them :) Kind of like my companion from Guatemala :) she was sooo overwhelmed and cried when she saw all the little things that people had sent her for Christmas. Completely strangers. Yet they were kind enough to help her feel loved. Its amazing! I'm sorry if this all sounds a little scattered but it was just something cool I've been thinking about :) The love we have for those around us is sooo important!

I hope you all have a great week!

Love you!

Remember to be kind to others this week and help them feel a little more love!

Hermana Nielson

75th Week, June30, 2014

Every crazy possible...

Muy Buenos Dias a Todos!!!

 

Sister Tovar and I have decided that every crazy thing possible is going to happen to us while we are together... This last week was no exception.

First of all... we had a super cool ALL sisters meeting!! all the sisters in teh mission got together and had a meeting with the APs, Mission president and his wife and so on. It was great!!! I got to take a family picture  with my three daughers in the mission and my two granddaughters :) That was super cool! A lot of the meeting was talking about our divine potential! Lots of sisters get this mind block that Elders are more successful than us... FALSE! I'd like to humbly say that in the month of June, the sisters in edinburg out baptized the Elders! yup! :) We were excited ;) Every sister companionship(3) baptized in our zone and our companionship had two baptisms. So they talked a lot about how we need to realize that we are called and ordained by the SAME AUTHORITY to teach the gospel. It doesn't matter if we do the physical action of baptizing or not... we are still representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ with his authority to teach and call people unto repentance! :)

Next crazy moment... We had a little scary experience this week which involved takling to the police! Yup! My greenie was pretty freaked out. We had decided to walk around and we left our car in a bank parking lot right? Well, we got super hungry and went to eat at subway right acrossed the street. On the way back at the stop light, as we waited for the light to change, this crazy guy starts talking to us. We of course were good missionaries and gave him a pass along card and invited him to church, but then he went off on this story about getting jumped by a couple of guys and his car breaking down and needing money... It wasn't a big deal until i saw a cop car pull into the parking lot acrossed the street next to our car and just sit there watching us....

Well eventually he stops talking and turns around and sees the cop and runs across the street to talk to him. Sister Tovar and I were thinking "oh good! lets get in the car and get out of here!" well the moment I get in the car and start to back out, another police car pulls up and the guy gets out and tells my companion to go talk to him. well she panics and runs to me... :) My cute greenie. So we get out and he just asks about the crazy guy and if he did anything to scare us or anything. It wasn't too exciting overall now that I think back about it, but in the moment, we were pretty freaked out.

And through this all, my testimony of protecting angels has been strengthened! The bonus of being a missionary in a place you aren't familiar with is that you don't know how dangerous it is. You  have absolutely no clue what person is crazy, has been to jail, or anything like that. We get the happy rose colored glasses of knowing that everyone is a child of God and he wants them back on the right path! So we are here to help with that :) When I was in Laredo, i never felt like I was in danger, but when I mentioned that I started my mission there, people congratulate me on getting out alive!

Speaking of starting my mission... Today is my official 17 month mark of being a missionary! How crazy is that?! 17 Months ago, I waved good bye to my mom, dad and brother at the MTC as Chris tried playing "God Be with you til we meet again" on the radio :) Well I can testify that God has been with me these past months and He will for sure be with me in this last month as we race to the finish! I know every day is going to fly by in slow motion and I'm so excited to see the miracles that are sure to happen! My companion and I have been sooo blessed so far and I know that there is still more to come! I'm grateful for all the prayers said on our behalf and for all the love and support from everyone! I testify that this is the true church of God restored on the earth through a prophet called of God. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and I'm so grateful for the guidance I receive as I read it! I love you all and I hope these are things you know as well! If not, its time to read and pray ;) I share these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ amen!

 

Hermana Nielson

 

ps. We taught YW in spanish this week! :) That was cool! I love the priesthood!!!

pps. the attached picture is my posterity in the mission! Woohoo :)

74th Week, June 23, 2014

Confirmed!

Whats better than finding people to teach? Having people you teach come to church!

Better than that? Them getting baptized!

Better than that? Them getting confirmed!

Better than that? Them excited to pay their tithing!!

Woohoo!! You know you're helping a good solid person to be converted when they get all excited about paying their tithing :) Yeah Ivan is awesome!

Ivan was baptized last week and got confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints yesterday! Then after church he waited for us to show him exactly where the tithing envelopes were so that he could pay his tithing :) Can you say golden?! Yeah he's awesome!

He was our major high light of the week for sure!

This week feels like it was incredibly SLOW but here we are again writing emails on Monday!

Tuesday this last week was transfers, a lot of people from our zone left but sister Tovar and I are still here going strong! The other sisters we live with changed and now Sister Hunt is training a new greenie from California! They are super fun and we are having a great time in our house :) Lots of hard work getting done! Its so great to live with sisters that was working hard so that we can all encourage each other and give support at the end of a hard day too!

As for Sister Tovar's arm.... She had an MRI and we went to the doctor Friday. For now she is clear and free and doesn't need surgery! But she does have a nice big red cast :) we go back in two weeks to re-xray and make sure everything is still good. She's for sure going to have a cast for the next 8 weeks though... so my biking days in the mission are pretty much over :( Sad day! I miss my wonderful bike!

The big adventure of the week... We killed chickens for service. Yup. It was horrifying. We thought we would be cutting their heads off and that didn't seem to bad... nope! The member decided he would twist their necks and kill them that way.... Super gross! Then we had to cut the heads off and drain the blood and pluck them... Yup... I'm proud to say not one of us 4 sisters that did it threw up! But I'm definitely on a chicken fast for at least the next week! It was awful! The last chicken, the member was twisting its head and it literally ripped off! Blood flew EVERYWHERE. I've also sworn an oath to never help with chicken killing again. Sorry dad...

So those were our main adventures of the week! I've noticed the closer to the end you get, the more tired you feel all the time! I'm just exhausted! But my cute greenie is keeping me going and I'm pushing her to her limits to make sure she knows everything she needs to before I leave her here to fend for herself!

Last thought, I finished my Book of Mormon project! Reading it in Spanish and marking Christ's name every time He is mentioned. Now I've started over, the book has Christ marked in red and now I'm marking faith in blue and repentance in yellow. Its fun to search the scriptures for a topic because you become so much more attentive to what is going on and how those things are applied to what is happening to the people... I'm hoping that I can finish the book a 7th time before I come home but its definitely going to be a challenge! I'm so grateful to have the Book of Mormon as a guide and help in my life! The scriptures really become a blessing when we are willing to do the studying required to know how to find things to help other people :) I love it!

I testify to you that the Book of Mormon is true. I know it. I know it because I've read it and prayed to my Father in Heaven and He has answered me! I know that through the scriptures we can find more peace and happiness than anywhere else! It is the Lord's set of rules and instructions for life and I love it! I love you all as well and I hope that you have a fantastic week! If you have a free moment, write a letter to your favorite missionary! and me! ;)

Stay Strong! Stay True!

Hermana Nielson

73rd Week, June 16,2014

Spanish > English

Woohoo!!! So our week was insane. We are affectionately calling it our week of hardcore YOLO. (you only live once). Because, we had about 2 trips to the doctors, one car accident, a spanish ward fathers day party (no one parties like the spanish ward!) 1 confirmation and a BAPTISM! Wooohoo!!

And from this all, there is are many things I've learned but one that I want to share that is most important, Following the spirit!!!

On Thursday we went to the doctor for Sister Tovar's arm. They did another xray and it turns out she didn't just fracture her bone, there is something else possibly wrong and we will be going back for an MRI this week... that's a little nerve wracking for sure... But on our way back, we decided to adventure a little and see if we could get back to Edinburg a little faster... All was going good and we weren't lost at all. but then suddenly.. we stop at a red light and feel the car jerk forward. So we both look back and see that we've been hit! D: in the brand new car that was loaned to us I got in an accident! Crap! So I get out to see the damage and literally, its like 2 scratches above the wheel but we still have to call the police. the lady starts panicking and telling me how she doesn't have tags on her car and she totaled her other car and it will get towed.. so as I'm calling, I look away for two seconds and hear her car start again... I turn around and they are driving away! What the heck?! Hit and run! So the police come and we file the report and everything, then we go home and call all the people we have to inform... Then... we went out to work... :) That night my greenie and I sat down to plan for the next day and she just stares at me for a minute. Then says something quite profound. "We just keep going don't we?" so I asked what she meant and she pointed out that we had been in an accident, she had a broken wrist, I had a freak out a little bit(yes dad, I cried because we got hit) But we still went out to work and teach people. I told her yeah. that's why we are here!

It really opened my eyes too. Because I didn't think about it... I just knew we had appointments and goals to meet, so even though everything bad happened, we still needed to go to work. It was just satan's way of matching all the good things we were doing to send us personal trials to distract us. But we didn't let it work! Rojelio got confirmed yesterday and Ivan was baptized! It was a great baptism and the spirit was wonderful! Ivan is a professional boxer and so right before the baptism we asked if he was nervous he said "well when I go to fights I get nervous, but this isn't anything bad. its good. so I'm not nervous at all"

It reminded me that this work really isn't about us! I love serving the Lord! Its amazing to feel like you truly are an instrument in the hands of God to bring salvation to others.

One last thing.... Happy Father's Day yesterday! We had an awesome Spanish ward party on Saturday and I definitely got a little trunky for my dad and sad that we can't call dad's on fathers day. but one of the members sent pictures of all of us to our dads :) so I think that worked out well! I'm grateful for my great dad who has taught me the importance of the priesthood and always been an example of service to others!

I love you all and hope this week is truly a blessed one! I will be finishing my mission here in Edinburg and finish training Sister Tovar! I'm so happy and feel so blessed! also Sister Diaz is going to train! So I'm going to be a grandma in the mission! Best feeling ever to know your baby is training! :) Love you!

Hermana Nielson

71st Week, June 9, 2014

Baptisms and Broken Bones!

alrighty so here's the real email for the week!

Man it has been CRAZY!!! well. not all of the week just the end.. from Thursday to Sunday things got really crazy weird man!! woo!

So Thursday we had our zone conference. my last one in the mission! It broke my heart to realize I wont ever go to a zone conference as a missionary again! maybe someday as a couple missionary though :) That would be good! So in your last zone conference here, the missionaries who go home before the next one give their "Dying testimony". So I got to give mine with all the other "Dying missionaries" which included Sister Kreis! how cool is that? we started together and we are pretty much finishing together! Unless we get transferred next week! haha that would be a bummer! Also I finished my language program so that was super fun to get my certificate! Soo much hard work! I had to do 4 consecutive days of speaking only Spanish! I almost died but my companion was a good sport and put up with it :) we looked pretty funny walking around with me speaking Spanish and her speaking English. That's the Texas McAllen Mission for you!

Then Friday night we had our next epic adventure... we were biking home right? so about a quarter of a mile from the house, we are crossing this main road and I hear behind me a big "whoosh". I look back, and there's my little greenie lying in the middle of the road, both of her shoes flew off in different directions and she hit  her face/helmet hard enough on the ground to knock the front plastic part off the helmet. That was pretty scary. Luckily her face is totally fine :) not a scratch! But her wrist... that's a different story. We called the elders freaking out and they just said "oh move it around and ice it! she'll be fine!" well we iced it but it kept swelling. So we called our mission presidents wife, we went to the urgent care, got an xray. Yep shes got two cracks in the bone and needs a cast :) Nice advice elders ;) oh well! Its taken care of now so that's good! She was bummed though when she realized her first baptism picture would be with a cast! Haha poor kid!

Baptism!!! We had a baptism! Yay! Our cute little Mexican grandpa got baptized yesterday :) It was sooo great! We had a pretty good turn out with the members to support him as well :) Yay!! We were a little nervous because the Ward Mission Leader had made a little fuss about him getting baptized... but the Lord worked it all out for the best so it was a wonderful event! The best part was during the service when the members were giving talks and he was just talking back and forth with them as they talked to him about baptism and the holy ghost. as they told him that the holy ghost would always be his companion he said "oh ok! esta bien :)" (basically mean ok that's good!) It was adorable! I realized that I seriously love each and every one of our investigators we have right now sooo much! They are all so unique and wonderful and truly have good desires to change. I love it! Its awesome to see the changes they make! Rogelio even wore a button up shirt to church today :)

As for other investigators! We have about 5 people we are seriously working with right now :) our 2 in Spanish that came to church this week and last week, and then this mom and her two daughters in English :) they are soo great! we have lessons with all 5 of them tonight! Woohoo!! the work is carrying on and I know the Lord is leading us and blessing us for being super obedient and working hard! I love it! This is truly the Lord's work we are ALL participating in. It really can't just be the missionaries doing everything, we are sent to find, teach, and invite people to come unto Christ, after that, the members need to do there part to help and support one another in every righteous way. Its amazing! The Lord has got it all figured out.

On a side note, I'm going to finish the Book of Mormon this week for the 3rd time in Spanish and the 6th time in my mission :) Its been so cool just looking for the parts when Christ is mentioned and marking His name. Anyone who says the Book of Mormon isn't another testament of Jesus Christ is super wrong! and I have the book the prove it! I know the Book of Mormon is true and I'm so grateful for the peace I feel just reading it or even thinking about the stories of the prophets of old. I'm grateful for the sacrifices the early saints made to protect it and make sure that we would have it now :) I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!!

Love,

Hermana Nielson

ps. next week is transfers! am I staying or leaving  :O oh no!

70th Week, June 2, 2014

What a WEEK

FIRST OF ALL!!! We had a huge miracle this last week... instead of just ONE person coming to church.... we had THREE!!!! My greenie nearly cried she was so excited and had no clue what to do! It was great :) We hooked them up with members though and sent them off to class while we ran around doing other things :) It was super wonderful!! all three of them are preparing for baptism in the next two weeks :D Sooo exciting! My greenie is just dying of happiness, which is a lot better than dying of heat! Did I mention Texas is HOT?! its starting to seriously heat up and there are moments we just stop and sit in the shade for a second to cool down a little... yikes! its only starting! The best part though.... the really hot month is August ;) Guess who wont have to endure that heat again? :D

So about our cute investigators :) One is a cute little old man. He is literally the most adorable thing of my life. 72 and never been married and doesn't speak a lick of English! Its great :) He has been the best first investigator for my cute little greenie because he doesn't have any word of wisdom or chastity issues! Woohoo!! Haha that probably sounds pretty funny... but as a missionary, those problems are super stressful! So we are teaching him and he just loved church sooo much. We did a church tour with him this last week and our member that was helping us pointed out all the pictures in the church to him. In the Edinburg chapel, there is this giant painting of the angels appearing to the apostles right? Well as we were looking at this picture, we were all thinking of the angels, but of course this cute little old man is drawn to the little donkey in the corner of the picture. He repeated kept going back to the picture during church and petting "el burrito!" (little donkey... not food) It was adorable and we seriously love him :) He's like the Mexican grandpa I never had! ;)

Our other two investigators are brothers! They are super great! one was taught by missionaries before in Brownsville. Coolest thing? some of the members at church already knew him! They were actually in Brownsville when he went to church there! Woohoo!!! SOoo much happiness!!! So they came to church and loved it! Blessings from the Lord for sure!!!

Besides that.. My greenie and I had another great learning moment this morning :)

I've been thinking a lot about sacrifices and what it means to sacrifice. I realized that when we do things out of love, it doesn't feel like a sacrifice... Like when a woman is going to school and quits to help her husband or take care of kids, I bet it doesn't feel like a sacrifice because its out of love that she does it... When the Savior suffered for our sins, I would bet it didn't feel like a sacrifice, because it was done out of love. But in the world, we always feel like we are having to sacrifice right? In the mission, you have to give up being with your family, watching tv, listening to "good" music, hanging out with friends and what not. People are always telling us how much they admire us because of what we do, but they still don't want to listen... I wish they understood how much we as missionaries love them! Every single person in my area I can say I love! even if there are a few creepy guys we choose not to talk to... its out of love... haha! It doesn't feel like a sacrifice any more to have given up all of those things because of the miracles I've seen so far and because of all the blessings I've received, the people I've served have received, and my wonderful friends and family back home have received. Its worth every second. Its not a sacrifice any more to ride the bike, its a privilege that I love and look forward to every day. Vale la pena! That's what every says! Its worth the pain!

I truly am so grateful to be giving up so many worldly things so that I can sweat all day on a bike with my cute companion and help others know that the Lord loves them. Its an honor! I know that this church is true and that the Lord is leading and guiding this great working of saving souls and I'm so very grateful to be a part of it and know that many of my friends are doing the same thing all over the world! Its truly amazing and only could happen with the power and help of God! and I share these things with you in the sacred name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ amen!

Hermana Nielson

69th Week, May 26 2014

BOOTS!!!

Ok. So as we all know... yesterday was Memorial Day! Happy Memorial Day and Extra special preparation day! Because we couldn't email, that gave us an extra hour to adventure :) Yes. Yes we did. We went to a little place called Boot Jack. and Man... I was in heaven!!!!! :D I tried on lots of boots and got the opinions of everyone and well brothers and sisters.... I have the boots!!! Beautiful boots! Gorgeous boots!! But... I'm not sending you all a picture of them :) Sorry! You will see them in 9 weeks when I walk through the airport :)

As for this last week of adventures! It has been a fun one for sure! We seriously biked like CRAZY!!! last monday night we had to bike from one side of our area, to the other, and then to the bottom of the area in the 3 hours that we had to work.. my greenie almost cried she was so tired! I felt super bad! I didn't tell her the actually distance we biked though... because I figured ignorance was bliss! :) Poor greenie! She's working sooo hard though and I'm super proud of her! We've been working really hard on our teaching skills and she's improved like crazy from when we first started together :)

On that note, this week has been another huge learning experience for me! My greenie got her first REAL taste of what its like living outside of Utah :) We have a less active member who lives with her boyfriend, has 4 kids(none of which have the same dad) and her boyfriend is moving out soon because they are breaking up. Did I mention this person is 21? yep. So thats not a typical Utah situation. afterwards she said to me "i don't know how that seems ok!" and i pointed out to her that we are in the world right now. Its not ok and its not what God wants... but its whats happening. Thats why mission work is sooo important! We have to help those people remember their worth and help them know the importance of the commandmants God has given us! My cute little greenie :) Its made me think a LOT about when I was in Laredo... Wooo man good times :)

 

We also had exchanges this last week! That was exciting :) My baby was a little scared to be seperated from me, but she had a super good time! I got to work with Sister Beckstrand (also from utah!) So that was really fun :) We played the hunting game all saturday where we tried tracking down all those people we have invited to church and committing them to come! In the end, we had about 5 people committed to coming to church! Then sunday morning rolled around and we called them all and well... 3 of the people who were coming to spanish ward all said they would come... then 9 oclock hits.... and we call again.... and they starting backing out! Gah!!! Darn that agency!!! Sometimes i wish i could just drive to their houses, throwing them in the car and bring them to church! That would be sooo nice! :P So that was a bummer. But we have made it a goal to be happy no matter what. So  as i was feeling a little depressed my greenie smiled at me and said "Happy in every situation Hermana!" My first thought was to chew her out for being happy people didn't come, but thankful i smiled and chose to be happy instead :) Oh my cute little greenie!

 

So those are a few of our exciting adventures this week :) Nothing too crazy but definitely an adventure! The Lord is playing with my mind currently and making every day seem extremely long.. but then i blink and suddenly I'm here emailing again and I don't know where the time went! Blessing and a Curse I'm calling it. I'm grateful to have this time left to serve the Lord though! I know without a shadow of a doubt I'm EXACTLY where i need to be and doing exactly what the Lord wants and how truly grateful i am for that! :D The Lord works in mysterious ways and I know that He is doing some crazy things right now to prepare me for the future! I hope I can learn all the lessons i need to before this time is up! Our mission president always tell us that the mission is the Universidad de Los Dioses! The University of Gods! we have to go home with a backpack full of experiences! Mine is definitely getting pretty stuffed! :D I know that this is the Lords work and that He is guiding it every second! I know that the Book of Mormon is true and the best way to receive spiritual guidance! These things I leave with you in the sacred name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, amen!

 

Hermana Nielson

68th Week May 19, 2014

Executive Decisions...

I've come to a decision! I would much rather be a wet from sweat... than soaked from rain! At least with sweat i have a general idea when I will dry out... but when its raining... man you are just wet til you get home :( It rained like crazy this last week! We got to bike in it too! My poor greenie! I think she might have reconsidered a little if someone would have explained to her how hot it gets, how much fun biking in a skirt is, and how miserable it is to bike in the wet and cold... Yup that was a fun lesson for both of us to learn this last week! But I know that we are stronger because of it!!! And my greenie never complained this week :) She's a trooper for sure! A real blessing from the Lord sent to the people here in our area and to me for sure!! :D

 

Adventures of the week! Well! On monday night we got a call telling us we were having a meeting with President Maluenda on tuesday! yikes! we panicked that it was zone conference and that we should be preparing our dying testimonies... (in your last zone conference you bear your testimony infront of EVERYONE. yikes! no worries its on the 5th of June!) So we got there and found out it was just an animo meeting! Animo meaning.... actually there isn't an english word for animo... but like... it was a meeting to animate us! to get us more excited about the work. man! i was pumped to go out in the rain afterwards! It was cool to just sit down and have our mission president tell us how much he really does care about us and wants us to work hard and help people. He pointed out that the mission is the best place for us to learn and grow, but its not about us. We are here for everyone BUT ourselves. So we need to get our priorities straight and be doing what the Lord wants!

One of the Elders asked President how we can feel like we are being successful when we are doing everything we can and still not having any baptisms. President asked him "elder. why are you here?" and the elder told him "to serve the Lord". Next question "What were you called to do?" and the elder just sat there confused and said "baptize" President told him no. Our purpose as missionaries is clearly stated in preach my gospel and our call letter "Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel" (side note, i dont' know how to say the purpose in english, i just translated that from spanish in my head!)  Our purpose is to INVITE!!! and do all we can to help those people receive the gosple. Whether they choose to accept or reject, thats their decision. But we better do all in our power to help them know how important the decision they are making is!

 

My greenie and i had a great realization moment on that this morning by the way! I was role playing to her how to teach the Plan of Salvation. As we were talking about the Terrestrial kingdom she just stopped and looked at me with wide eyes and asked "so wait... all the people that we teach and they don't accept... they go here? even if they are good people?" Yup. They sure do. Missionary work is fun and exciting and hard... but its also very serious! I don't think that realization hit her until that moment. Its pretty amazing actually! The Lord has prepared ways for everything to work out. Learning more about the plan of salvation has really strengthened my testimony that Heaven Father LOVES us!! He knows the moment when it would be best for us to accept the gospel and I'm grateful that I got it right from the beginning from my wonderful parents! :D He knew that was exactly what I needed, and right now, there are people here in south Texas that need Sister Tovar and Nielson to bring them the restored gospel! Whether they accept it right now with us or we plant the seed that leads to the conversion, I'm game for whatever the Lord has in store!

 

So those are some of the things I've learned this past week :) On a sad note, my memory card on my camera malfunctioned this last week and i've lost ALL my pictures from Christmas until now... Many tears have been shed... but i know i've emailed home a lot of my important pictures so thats given me a lot of peace! :( But... yeah that was not a happy realization! Then on saturday i realized that the flash drive i keep with all the rest of my mission pictures is currently missing... Yep... I'm feeling pretty sick about that one.. so if you could send an extra prayer my way that the memory card will start working again and i didn't lose the pictures.. or that i find my flash drive, i'd be exceedingly grateful! Other than that, life is good! Its always a good day to be a TEXAS MCALLEN MISSIONARY! The Church is true! God loves you! Love you all!!!

 

Hermana Courtenae Nielson

67 Week May 12, 2014

 You have a baby.... on a bike! Yeah I can take her anywhere!

I'm hoping my lovely family understands that movie quote and likes how I altered it to fit my situation!

That's right everyone... Sister Nielson is training... AGAIN! Only this time its a little bit more exciting than the last! We are still on bikes! and its getting HOT HOT HOT!!!

We got the official transfer calls on Monday night... so Sister Perez(my last companion) just changed rooms pretty much! She switched areas here in edinburg and we still live together :) Then our lovely zone leaders told me "and sister Nielson! Youre gonna get a greenie!" Craaaaaap!! You'd think I wouldn't be training considering I'm basically dead... ah well! Maybe that's why the Lord is throwing this curve ball at me :) Woohoo!!

My greenie is pretty adorable though! She's from Salt Lake City, Utah! She actually knows a lot of Spanish already, but she's what we would call a half native... her parents speak it and she understands it but I'm still going to be teaching her a whole lot haha :) My first time teaching someone Spanish! Quite the adventure this will be indeed! ah well! Best part? We are still on bikes! So the summer is coming and its getting pretty hot.... my poor greenie tells herself optimistic things as we bike so it doesn't seem as hot. Its been pretty cute because I'm reminded of that misadventure back in Laredo when we accidently went to San Antonio and had to save a bunch of miles... so we biked a lot in the Laredo sun! I now know how my trainer felt as I was complaining :) I have a lot more respect for her now!

Its funny how life comes in a full circle right? You think you're so great and your trainer is just mean... then you get to the situation when you are the trainer and man... You feel pretty humbled and appreciative of what your trainer did! I sure do love and appreciate her now!

In other news!!! HAPPY MOTHERS DAY YESTERDAY TO ALL THE MOMMAS OUT THERE! Another thing that made me laugh, last mothers day I was with my "mom" in the mission and this mothers day I AM the mom! and next mothers day I will be with my mom! So that's even better :) The sisters and members in the house where we skyped sure got a kick out of listening to me talk to my family :) They told me my personality totally makes sense now that they have heard my family :) Super true. I love my crazy family!

So miracles of the week... we found 3 new investigators this week that are pretty solid!! The first day Sister Tovar (my greenie) and I went out to work, we refer to the day as baptism by fire! we had no time for me to explain how to teach or who we would be seeing or anything! we just unpacked her, shopped and went out to work! I felt really bad because she was soo confused! But she rolled with it pretty well :) That day we found a new investigator and they accepted a baptismal date! Woohoo!! Then the next day... we call it baptism by water (a little out of order) We got rained on... Yep :) 2nd day in the field on a bike and my poor greenie got wet. She kept going though! I was super proud of her! Then she informed me that one day this next week, she is going to lead off on everything with door contacting. I just laughed and let her knock the next door and smiled as she stared at the person speaking Spanish and not a word came out :) Hahaha oh man :) I forgot how fun greenies are! Its great :)

This last Friday we had a super crazy storm! We were at the church for an activity with the ward and my compy and I felt like we should leave to go visit a less active. so we left at about 8 and it was starting to lightning a lot! So we thought whatever and kept going... then it started to sprinkle.... well we got to the less active member's house and it was definitely raining by now. so I checked the phone and the zone leaders had forwarded a text from the Assistants to the President saying that everyone needed to go home IMMEDIATELY. You know that moment when you look at your poor greenie, its 8:20 at night, pouring rain and all you have is bikes to ride 2 miles home? Yeah... that was a humbling moment. Luckily we were right by a members house! so we went to the member and she was outside and told us to get the bikes in the back of her van fast and she would take us home :) We made it home with no troubles and got to enjoy the crazy rain/lightning storm from the safety of our house! I'm so grateful for all the little things that worked out to keep us safe that night because I was really scared to ride all the way home in the storm! Blessings for sure! I'm grateful the Lord put us in the perfect place to work everything out!

Last fun adventure! For mothers day, the Spanish ward had their party on Saturday because the 10th of May is mothers day in mexico! We got an investigator to go! and... THEY HAD A MARIACHI BAND!!! best night ever! I took some videos too so I can show them off someday when I'm home again :) I've enjoyed making jokes to the younger elders in our area "hey elder... I have less weeks in the mission, than you have transfers! :)" Poor elders :) I really love being here in edinburg though! I'm so excited to have this opportunity to train again and have this greenie to help me stay focused and finish strong!! I hope you all had a week as crazy and fun as mine! I know this is the Lord's work and I'm SO grateful to be a part of it right now! I know this church is true and this is the LORD's time I'm on right now! I gotta spend it right! I love you all and wish you a wonderful day! :)

Hermana Courtenae Nielson

66th Week May 5, 2014

The Call....

 the mission we have this dangerous call you receive from the office... It comes 90 days before you go home and they ask you what airport you want to fly into and everything. pretty freaky! So I called the office last week to ask about a Spanish project I wanted to do! We have this "capitan" program we use to do Spanish study and the last section of it you have to do a 10 hour Spanish project. My plan is to translate hymns from English to Spanish and vice versa :) So I called the office to get my project approved and  Sister Neil who works in the office was just tickled pink I'd called because she was about to call me D: I talked to her about my project and then made the mistake of asking what she needed from me and she cheerfully said "well! I needed to make your 90 day call to find out some info for when you go home!" AHHHHH!!!! That was scary... but its ok... its over now and I don't have to worry about that stuff at all until a week before I go home :) But now all the elders keep telling me "hey sister.. your at... 87 days now right?" "Hey Sister... 84 days right?" Its awful! Those punks... ah well. that's life!

Other interesting news! Transfers are on Tuesday!!! I will happily be staying here in Edinburg A Pie to bike another 6 weeks! But my companion Sister Perez is headed out! Where to.. we don't know yet! And who is being condemned to the only sister bike area with me, we don't know yet! Yikes! We've made jokes that maybe I'll train a new missionary here! That would be quite the adventure indeed! But surely they wouldn't do that to a fresh little greenie right? I guess we will find out soon enough!
I have a couple of reasons I LOVE transfers! So I'm gonna tell you about that! One of the biggest reasons, is that they are inspired by God. A lot of people think they get transferred because they have been in an area for a long time, or they have been with a companion for a while or whatever. When I was on the island.... I was sooo sure I would leave after the 2nd transfer there. I just knew it! But then when the call came.. I stayed... and then the next transfer... I stayed again! I had a lot to learn up there and man... did it shape my perspective on life a lot! I'm so excited to get a 3rd transfer here in Edinburg! I know that it is part of the Lords plan for me. I'm not done working here yet and I know this will be the best transfer I've even seen because I'm going into it with the faith to see miracles with whoever my new companion is! We will work til we drop :D Hopefully my companion can ride a bike :)
I've attached a couple of pictures for your viewing amusement this week! I know one has me and my texas crackers I bought! Unfortunately. the texas shaped stuff doesn't taste that great. But I buy it to get the cool pictures so its worth it :) I love texas!


Also, I'm very excited for this sunday! Its MOTHERS DAY!!! HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL!
ALSO!

FELIZ CINCE DE MAYO!!! our zone is planning on crashing the Cinco De Mayo party at Pan-Am university today :) Haha maybe not but we have definitely thought about it. You can hear the Mexican music blasting all over town so its pretty great :) I love crazy holidays!

Well I leave you now with my testimony! I know that the Lord puts us where we need to be and with whom He needs us to be so that we can grow and become the people HE needs us to be and OTHERS need us to be! I've learned so much about patience and showing love and gratitude for others this transfer that I just want to send my thanks and appreciation to all those who have supported me so far in my mission! I'm so grateful for the letters, packages, and especially for the prayers that come my way in South Texas! I love this Gospel so much and I'm so grateful to my Savior for His sacrifice for each and every one of us so that we can return to our Father in Heaven some day! and I leave this with you in the name of our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ amen! I love you all and wish you a great week!

Hermana Courtenae Nielson

65th Week April 28,2014

 False Alarm!!!

 

After more research, we have been informed we do not have bed bugs!! What a relief! None of us wanted to confess to the landlord.... Instead... We have chiggers!!! Woohoo!! Haha :) so the only remedy we have been told is to shower every night and make sure everything stays really clean :) That's easy for sisters! Unfortunately the elders keep getting more bites ;) Ha!

This past week seems like it was really long but super short at the same time! In fact the whole month of April has just flown by! Can you believe that next preparation day is Cince De Mayo!? Haha we are hoping to find a good party to crash and teach the gospel at :) but I guess we will see what happens!

Cool moment of the week... We had a big meeting with our mission president and the stake president this last week! They talked about how the mission president holds the keys to preside over convert baptisms and missionary work, but the stake president has the keys to preside over ALL the people in the stake! So we have to make sure our vision is aligned with his. One of the things they really want us to focus on is reactivation! Yay! I love reactivation! They talked about how in our stake, there are enough baptisms each year to make a new ward... but they haven't had a new ward in a couple years because we have SOOO many less actives. So they have asked us to spend at least half of our proselyting time on reactivation and working with members. I love it! We had some super cool lessons with less actives this last week and actually got a family to church!

Its cool to think about how important it is to work with EVERYONE and invite EVERYONE to Christ. Not just those who aren't members! Convert baptisms are super important but we need more CONVERTS to the church in the literal sense of converting ourselves to the gospel. That is the most important thing of all! When thou art converted, convert thy brethren!

I started the book of Mormon in Spanish for the 3rd time about 2 weeks ago and today I was reading in Jacob 5! Whoo that chapter is 10 pages long in Spanish!! Yikes! But as I was reading, it was interesting to think about what part of that chapter we are now living in! It is the most important! The Lord is doing all He can to help us! We have to take up the responsibility and do our part too! I know that the Lord loves us and that we are all part of this great work right now! We must all do our best in whatever part of the work we are in! Whether we be missionaries, active members, or maybe we haven't been to church is a while, we all have our responsibilities in the work and we must do our part to receive the reward in Heaven!  

 

Love you all! Be safe! The Church is True!

 

Hermana Nielson

64 th Week, April 21, 2014

Happy Easter!!!

 

Oh the stories I have for you this week... We will start with the major bummer. In our house.. we all have bed bugs. Yup. Bed bugs. you know those nasty little things that bite you in the night?? I thought that was a joke. So here's what happened... We had 6 in our house last transfer right? Then they moved 2 of the sisters to take over a former elders apartment.... Yup. The elders apparently had bed bugs... So the sisters got them... and passed them to us because we switched out their beds from some bunk beds in our apartment... Then some sisters did exchanges and slept in each others beds :O basically the Texas McAllen Mission is having a little bed bug epidemic! and its nasty! then the elders confessed that they have been getting bit as well.. our whole zone has bed bugs! Yikes! We are working on getting rid of them though :) lots of cleaning happening...

So that's my nasty fun story for the week!

In other news! We found 5 new investigators this week and 4 of them have baptismal dates they are preparing for!!! Whoo!!! The work is moving forward here in Edinburg! Our main struggle is getting people to church! it didn't help that yesterday was easter and that's one of the few holidays everyone celebrates around here! I don't remember ever getting good Friday off from school in Utah??

We had this super cool lesson with one of our investigators! We were looking through the restoration pamphlet with her and we got to the picture of the first vision and she just stopped. and started talking about how she has been praying to know which church she should join. She went on for a few minutes and when she stopped I told her that the boy in the picture was going through the very same thing! She was sooo excited to know she wasn't alone. Then at the end of the lesson we asked her if she would pray to know Joseph Smith was a prophet. She started to say something then stopped and told us that she just had this voice in her mind just telling her "yes! yes! yes! yes!" She just knew that it was true! So we had her pray to confirm that answer was from God and afterwards she told us it was!  :D The Lord is so amazing! He answers people in truly the exact ways they need to be given the answer!

Also, I made apple pie this week. That was a fun adventure. It was my district leader's birthday and we wanted to do something for him. so we asked him what he would like and it was apple pie... Well we bought the cute little jiffy's pie crust mix and an apple pie filling and I made pie! that was exciting. I feel much more prepared for next thanksgiving!

Overall this week was just filled with craziness in the best ways possible, mostly! We had a few down moments and there was a day that I decided it was time to go get ice cream. Everything had fallen through and we were just done for the day. so we went to Stars (its kind of like sonic but not as good) and my companion and I sat on the curb with our bikes and had a treat. I've decided there are just some moments in life when you need to sit on the curb and have an ice cream. Its not always a bad thing. Sometimes its a good thing to reward yourself with a little ice cream.

Also!!! I'm so excited about my new baby nephew!!!  I hope that everyone who gets to see him will send me pictures!!! The little man is going to grow up a whole lot before I get home! its crazy! Life just keeps going doesn't it? On and on and on! It never stops! That's the best and worst thing about life! We can't stop the moments from passing by, so we shouldn't just let them pass by either! Seize the day! Take on every adventure that crosses your path! I know that's what we will be doing this week in Edinburg so I invite you to do it as well! If you see any sort of opportunity to share the gospel, do it!! Even if its to someone who is just a little less active or maybe the most active person you know! Share the light of Christ that you have been given so that all might know of His glory and love! I know the Lord lives and loves each and every one of us! Whether we feel we deserve that love or not it is always there!! I love you all dearly and wish you a wonderful week!!!

Hermana Nielson

63rd Week, April 14, 2014

Waaay too much happened this week to be able to detail it all! so i'm just gonna send some pictures instead!

First off, we had a zone blitz in our area! which means, 7 sets of missionaries were working in our area for 4 hours! The results, 5 new investigators, 30 referrals received and 20 contacted :) Pretty boss day if you ask me! haha it was crazy! and because we only work on bikes and by foot, everyone did it too :) we felt pretty awesome! and this week we will get to do it to someone else's area! so we are excited :) mission life is fun!!!

So we ran into the other sisters in our area and got the picture of sister hunt and I on the bikes :) pretty great! we actually rode for a couple feet then she jumped off scared haha but it was fun!

I wore my tie skirt to church! the elders begged me all week to wear it! haha so that was fun! I love those silly elders. these are my zone leaders. somehow the camera was positioned just right to cut my companion out of the pictures.. weird right?

 

 I found a worm on the ground this week.

 So I picked him up and carried him for a little while on my planner. He was a feisty little worm. I have never seen one jump around as much as he did and he curled himself into my planner.

Ok so that sounds random but here was my thought process as I was playing with this worm. He doesn't know he is a creation of God. He just knows life. He goes around. does his worm things... and then goes to bed. People in this life are very much like my little worm friend :) They don't all realize they are sons and daughters of a God that loves them and wants to forgive them of the wrongs they have done. The elders had an investigator in church yesterday and while I was talking to her for a minute she started crying and telling me how her old preacher told her that he wouldn't baptize her and she couldn't be saved. I told her that was a lie. God loves her and every single one of us! We are not "saved" because the preacher says so. We are forgiven and receive eternal life because we are willing to do what the Lord wants! That's all! :) So that was my profound thought for the week! I hope you all have a great one and happy easter on sunday!!!! Remember what it is really all about :) Read it in the bible!

 

Hermana Nielson

62nd Week, April 7, 2014

Conference!!!

 

 

WHoooooo!!! We were all talking about conference yesterday with some ward members and I realized that only missionaries can talk about conference like normal people talk about a sporting event.

"Did you see Jeffery R. shake his finger at the audience?!" "Oh man!! Yeah!" "Did you hear that talk on pornography! Wow!"

It was pretty hilarious and cool! I hope everyone has just as much enthusiasm about this last conference as me! Because man! That was my last one as a missionary! D: Yikes!

 

I loved conference so much!!! This whole last week has just been crazy and full of spiritual moments! We had a great zone meeting on Thursday where we learned about some changed rules. (sadly music rules just got a lot stricter and we will be blasting our MoTab cds again..) Then Thursday night... as we were literally just climbing into bed we got an emergency text form our zone leaders! "Interviews tomorrow! Be at the church at 830am!!!" that was intense... haha so we had interviews on Friday! Super boss! It was really exactly what I needed to really refocus myself a little and get some much needed help from my dear mission president! although it was a little scary..... because there were a few moments where he literally said things EXACTLY like my dad and gave me the same face dad would give... YIKES! But it was cool and made me a little homesick :) haha!

Then conference was super great! I received a lot of insight on my plans for the future and lets just say i'm going to DOUBLE my efforts in Spanish study because I've got some big plans :)

As for the talks! one of my favorites was by Z Craig Zwick! His was super great!  Something super great  I got out of it is that we shouldn't raise our voice but instead ask for understanding in a loving manner first! I think that's something I can apply to missionary work now and as well to my future family! :) Also he mentioned that it doesn't matter who is more right, you must listen to each other.

I think in life a lot we just want to be more right and we don't listen to other people. We don't take a minute to lovingly listen and see what is going on from another persons perspective! How much more smoothly would the world run if we would all just take a second to listen first... then try to help rather than prove how much more right we are? I challenge you this week to stop and listen before answering someone! That's my goal! I know it will definitely help improve my companionship(we are doing well though so that's not a worry but hey! always room for improvement!) and will help you as well to really understand another person and help them! Love you all!!! Be safe! The church is true!

 

Hermana Nielson

61st Week, March 31, 2014

Aqui estoy!

Here we are again! Transfer 2 in Edinburg A Pie! :P I love the bikes! :P I've been challenged by my district leader to be optimistic this transfer.... ?! What?! I don't remember being pessimistic but whatevs! This Transfer is all sunshine :)  Literally. Because its about to get REAL hot down here in South Texas!

Sooo adventures from the week....

We've been perfecting the art of "Preach My Pamphlet". Its been super interesting! On Friday night we had the coolest experience!! so one of the sisters in my apartment started her mission in Ecuador but got sick and came home and is now here and still feeling some of the effects from the stomach sickness she got... so sometimes she can't got out to work. So to help the sisters we did a mini exchange and I went out to work with her companion and my compy stayed home to take care of the sick sister :)

I was a little nervous about this because I've never worked with this sister but I figured, "hey whatevs! we are both missionaries! It'll be fine!"

 So we went out to work! we did and hour in my area and one her in hers. Well in the hour in my area we got a bunch of referrals! so that was good! then we went to her area and nothing was working! so we stopped and prayed... you know that missionary thing we always do...

and started driving and still nothing... But then I remembered that I had a referral in her area that I hadn't given the sisters yet! So we tracked down this house of a cute little older couple Sister Perez and I had talked to once when they were visiting their daughter who lives in my area. The couple let us in right way and sat down talking to us about religion. We started to teach them the Restoration and the whole time the lady just kept saying "I know this is true..." It was amazing! and at the end of the lesson she said the closing prayer and just expressed the most heart felt desire to know of the message was true. When she finished she told us a story about when she had felt the spirit of the Lord. so I asked her "sister, do you feel that spirit now?" and she started tearing up and she told us "yes! I know he's here!" and she gave us big hugs. It was so amazing! I've never felt the spirit so strong with these new lessons we are teaching but I definitely am developing a testimony that this is the Lord's plan for our mission right now!

Unfortunately I won't be able to keep teaching this couple because they don't live in my area :( but I know the other sisters will take good care of them and I'll be at that baptism! :)

One more fun story! Man I love General Conference!!! We went to the Women's Meeting on Saturday and man!! That was powerful!!! I literally just started crying as they opened the meeting with everyone singing and then when the little girls stood up and sang...  I was done for! The member I was sitting by just laughed at me and I tried to explain to her how much I love conference! I'm so excited for this weekend!!! Ahhhh!!!

8 Hours of listening to servants of the Lord tell us what God has for us to focus on right now?! Heck yeah! I think if we all pray really hard and maybe fast, this will be the conference that sister missions get changed to 2 years!!! :)

Ok so maybe not! But we are supposed to pray about the desires of our hearts right? :) This week I am going to pray and come up with my three specific questions for conference and get those answers! if you haven't done this before, do it now! Come up with questions you want the Lord to answer. They can be simple, complicated, whatever! About anything! and listen for your answers at conference! I have a strong testimony that the answers come! Its like magic :) Except not because its just God at work! and He LOVES us! He wants us to have the answers to the questions of our souls but we gotta be willing to ask first just as Joseph Smith did! Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you!

I promise you the Lord will answer whatever question you bring if you bring it prayerfully and with a humble heart :) And then write me a letter about it... :) Because missionaries love letters and that mail box has been pretty empty lately! Haha!

But really, I know the powerful of a good question :) Its what restored the gospel and has brought us all so much joy! So I invite you to give it a shot and let the Lord do His part. He loves us and desires that we have all that we need in life! I know this the true church of Jesus Christ and God! They are directing this missionary work and we gotta get in line and strengthen ourselves so that we might strengthen others! I testify of that in the name of Jesus Christ, amen!

Love you!!!

Hermana Nielson

60th Week, March 24, 2014

Vive A Pie!!!

Long live the sister biking area of A Pie!!!! :)

We had a slight scare this last week. Well. we had a few actually! First off, i almost got hit by a car. Maybe I shouldn't tell you this. But it was actually pretty funny. so here it goes!

We were biking down this street and we knew this big dog lived there... but he's always been chained up right? well... we are biking along when suddenly i look over and realize he is not chained! and suddenly this GIANT black dog is next to me about to snap at me!!!! So... like every good missionary, I SCREAM and bike faster! as fast as i can to get away from the dog! Unfortunately, this street ends in a T with a very busy street at the top, so I realized it just in time to hit my break and the dog had ran off in the other direction, i slid into traffic. Luckily, the two cars coming at me were paying attention and slowed down so i could get out of the way. This was the first moment in my mission i thought, "GET ME A CAR NOW!!!" It was pretty scary. But we made it to the church for coordination after that and all was well and I'm still alive and in one piece! So no worries :) The elders just laughed as we told them the story :P darn elders dont realize its a little harder to kick at dogs when wearing flats!

Next scare.... so transfers are this tuesday! and all week we kept joking that one of us would be training or be called to be an STL. so we pranked each other all week :) we kept changing the numbers in the phones to say Presidente Maluenda and kept calling to freak people out :) it was funny. Then saturday morning.... we hear the phone of one of the sisters ringing.... and she answers... AND ITS PRESIDENT CALLING!!! AHHH!! So we are all freaking out when we realized " oh he's just calling about their health" then he asks to talk to all of us! hands down funniest moment ever happens now. we all gather around the table to talk to president and he tells us he will be coming by in an hour to talk to us... so we tell him thats fine and hang up. as soon as the phone hangs up, we ALL yell "GO!" "CLEAN!" and the race begins to clean our little house of 6 sisters :) That house has never been so clean the whole time I've been here! So then president comes over and we talk for a little while about how we are all doing with the set up and lets us know that the mission wont be having 6 missionaries in one apartment again. EVER. AGAIN. :) He said it lovingly though. So then we waited and anticipated transfer calls to figure out what would happen!

 

I am happy to announce! We get to keep our sister biking area for at least one more transfer!!! I'm so excited!! i love biking!!! But one of the companionships moved out of our apartment and is off in an apartment by themselves now :( sad because they are the ones that always drove us everywhere. But its ok because the other sisters are fine to drive us :) ah the adventures and madness of transfers!! Transfers will be this tuesday and Sister Perez and I are staying together! Yay! We have a lot of plans on how to improve these next six weeks and have a love of success so it will definitley be fun! I'm excited!

As for people we are teaching, we have some really great people who are LOVING reading the book of mormon! I've gotten to use my skills of making it interesting and helping them see that these are real people! So they are all fired up! we have a less active member as well who is super jazzed about reading with us. We go over 2 times a week to read with her and she is loving it:) so thats great! I love the Book of Mormon!

I'm hoping to finish it for the 2nd time in spanish this next week and i can't decide which language i will read it in next... :)

Well friends and family! These are some of my adventures this last week! I hope yours have been just as exciting and hopefully filled with the spirit! I know that the Lord is directing his missionaries where ever they be! But we must look for that guidance and protection and be worthy to receive it always! I love the gospel and I know this is the true Church of God!! Be strong ! Love you all!

 

Hermana Nie

59 th Week, March 17, 2014

 One year ago.

lright ladies and gentlemen..

We have hit another big mark! One year ago... I was in Laredo!!! What in the world?! On the 12th of March I hit my one year mark of being in the field as a missionary! Last year at this time, I had just had my little break down freak out and wasn't sure if I could do this whole missionary thing! Well I'm very happy to report at this time, that I can do it! I have been doing it for a year now :)

This week was an interesting one... it has seriously passed sooo fast! I feel like just yesterday I was emailing you! But ah well! lets go over some adventures of the week:

We had exchanges this week! Yay! I went to work in the Sister Train Leaders area in McAllen and Sister Garry came to Edinburg to work with Sister Perez in our area :) It was definitely interesting haha! I think that sometimes we think of our leaders working sooo differently than us and that exchanges will be this huge enlightening of learning and such! Nah... it was just a normal missionary day :) We did have a couple people accept the baptismal invite though! Convenient they actually live in Sister Diaz area! :) YUP! We set BD's with people who live in my babys area! we got to call her and sister diaz was sooo happy to talk to me and so excited when I told her she had two new investigators :)

Another adventure of the week... we had a ton of set appointments the last couple of days! It was so cool! we literally had five set appointments in one day! and so we worked like crazy to get members to come with us... then literally, the members first canceled on us, then the people weren't home :( that was a major bummer! But we found other really cool people to fill the time with and teach so it all works out in the end.

Then on sunday! One of the bishopric members called us Wednesday night and asked if all the sisters would speak in church and tell our stories of how we decided to serve missions and the blessings we have seen as we have served. That was fun :) 6 sister missionaries speaking in sacrament meeting sounds crazy right? it actually went super great! I was 2nd to speak... so the first sister got up and just gave her testimony really fast and sat down after 2 minutes... so I got up and talked about when the age change happened. I still remember sitting on the couch as mom and dad were making breakfast. and that moment when everything just froze as we realized that I could go on a mission. Remember how mom was bragging the week before that she was so happy I was girl turning 19 so she didn't have to worry about a mission for me yet? ;) The whole congregation got a kick out of that. and then I bore my testimony in the end about how the Lord truly does bless us for going on missions.

I know that the Lord loves us so much. He loves us so much to give us the opportunity to go out into the world and proclaim the truth to His lost sheep. He has a lot of trust and confidence in the youth of the church as well to send out crazy 18 year old boys and 19 year old girls! You can definitely see a difference between the elders and sisters that left at a young age ;) sometimes its a maturity difference. But to be honest, the testimonies of the 18 year old missionaries are some of the strongest that have truly brought me to tears.

This gospel is such a wonderful blessing for all of us! We should never be afraid to share what we know to be true and help others come closer to their Savior! Everyone needs to know the peace that living faithfully brings! I love being a missionary! I love sharing my testimony and I love helping my brothers and sister come unto Christ! Be safe and strong this week and if anyone asks, don't be afraid to share the truth with them!

Love you all!

Hermana Nielson

ps. I got to hold chickens this week :)