December 29, 2014 - A Fabulous Christmas

Hey y'all!

Well, I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas! We definitely did around here! Christmas Eve we went to visit members in special needs homes and nursing homes and we ended up painting a lot of finger nails. It made their day! When Sister Jensen asked a lady who had had a stroke if she wanted her arm back under her blanket, she said "No, I am just going to look at how pretty my nails are." So sweet! Then we had dinner at Sister Culwell's and went caroling. People were so receptive to caroling, it was a great opportunity to talk to new people. Everyone wanted to talk about Jesus! Then on Christmas we had a blast with people in our ward and got to Skype our families. Some interesting things I ate on Christmas: mustard pickle, plantains, and grits. My experience with grits: bland. As the member said, there isn't much to like or dislike.

      Yesterday we had an awesome experience. We were fasting to start teaching a new deaf person. Then, some deaf lady that works at Walmart friended a member of our ward on Facebook. The member doesn't know her, but the lady is convinced she knows her. So now we can actually contact her (we heard about her before, but she only works from 10 pm to 6 am so it was hard to contact her). We also found out about some more deaf events and organizations here in Little Rock. Our prayers were answered so quickly! It was such a miracle, I am so excited for the deaf work to just keep rolling here!

Have a great New Year. Love you!

Sister Nielsen  

 

Girl's night out at Chili's courtesy of  Aunt Stacie.

Christmas Eve dinner at Sister Culwell's.

T'was the night before Christmas. We didn't have a tree so we made a fake fireplace...it worked out pretty good!

Christmas breakfast with all the missionaries at the Hendersons!

Mom, just wanted to show you I made little smokies on Christmas Eve :)

My BFF Sister Kalahiki gave me some Spam for our District secret Santa. She knows me so well!

Then we went caroling on Christmas Eve!

 

December 25, 2014 - Merry Christmas!

We spent the afternoon with the Hawkes-we adore them!

The Hawkes are a family from Payson that is very supportive of the missionaries. Sharly and her companion Skyped with their families from their home and ate with them. They also had Sharly over on her birthday and made her a birthday cake. They are in Arkansas while Brother Hawkes goes to medical school or does his residency.



Talking to Sharly on Skype made me feel liked Jane Jetson.

December 22, 2014 - Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas y'all!

This week we had a very fun "sister's time out" where we got to relax all as sisters and exercise and paint nails. Then we had our Christmas specialized training. We had an awesome dinner, and Christmas bags from the stakes filled with necessities like toothpaste and hand sanitizer. Then we had a talent show. I was very impressed by the missionaries who rapped the first lesson! Then we watched the Saratov Approach, it was way too intense for me. 

        This week we have been teaching an awesome lady named Hope. She pretty much invited herself to be baptized. She has the cutest kids and they love us! Her daughter that is 7 sat down and read the Book of Mormon with us. She is super smart. They were going to come to church, but her sister never came to get them

:( But they will be here Sunday I am sure! They are a great family, I am so excited to teach them every time! They are so elect.

Have a wonderful Christmas, I love all of you!

Sister Nielsen

Sister Wakolo, Sister Aase, Sister Kalahiki and me all by the ornaments we made! Super proud of this tree.

A pic with Rochelle, just cuz she was looking extra fabulous.

The "cool table".

A few Chihuly's in the middle of the Presidential Library. Very little art and lots of Bill Clinton.

Merry Christmas from all the roomies!

My favorite Hawaiian sister, Sister Kalahiki.

December 15, 2014 - Ward Christmas Party

Hey y'all!

     This week was pretty fun. We had the ward Christmas party, and helped out a member of our ward cater another party. And, I had the best turkey of my life! It was so much fun!

      Yesterday, Keith got his home teaching assignment. He is Jessie and Ronika's home teacher now. Obviously it makes sense for deaf people to teach deaf people...but it is just so cute to see my recent convert teach my other recent converts! I just love them! 

       This week we had a huge miracle: we found a deaf woman! Just by ourselves! Rarely do we meet someone that is not a referral. Sister Jensen had met a guy forever ago, and we ran into him again, so set up an appointment. He was really rude when we came, but then we were waiting for the elevator (he lives in a retirement center), and we started talking to some ladies, and it turns out one of them was deaf! She signs SUPER FAST, but she is really funny and she thought the Book of Mormon was really cool. It was awesome to see how God put together so many things so we could meet her. For example, she lives on the 7th floor, but was on the 4th floor because it had a puzzle she liked. So many details went into us meeting her, it was amazing! I know that God knows every detail of our lives. He is truly wonderful!

        Have a great week, don't get too stressed about Christmas, ok? Love you!

Sister Nielsen 

Rochelle got this mask at Relief Society. She wore it all night, she is stylin'!

A bouquet of all of Sister Culwell's family!

The capitol building is beautiful, but not quite Temple Square!

December 8, 2014 - New Companion, Sister Jensen

   This week has been a wee bit crazy! Sis G and our roommate Sis Johnson went home this week, I miss them a lot! Then I was with Hermana Warner and Hermana Ives for a bit. We packed up an apartment since they are closing Hermana Ives' area. Then we taught a lot in Spanish. That was fun, it was cool to see that I could still feel the spirit in lessons, even though I could only follow a few words.

    Then on Wednesday I got my new companion, Sister Jensen. Sis G trained her here in Little Rock, right before I got here, and then she has been serving in Southaven, Mississippi until this week. We are both excited to keep the deaf work here going. We are trying to find lots of deaf people to teach.

      For some reason though, we kept finding Spanish people to teach! We even had one guy call us into his car shop and teach us Spanish and we taught him English. I now know how to invite someone to church in Spanish, so that that will be helpful since we are running into Hispanics everywhere!

     Good news: Keith passed the sacrament this week! He loved it, and I was so proud of him for being so reverent (he can be quite the jokester). We are teaching him the water prayer in sign, so hopefully that will happen soon too!

     This week we had a few people tell us, "I'm not a good Christian," or "I'm not a good Mormon." It made me think of what makes us a good Christian. No one is perfect, so how do we be good? If we have faith and put forth our effort to follow Christ and to repent when we fall, then we can all become perfect through Christ. I am so thankful for that gift and I love our Savior!

     Have a holly jolly Christmas season y'all! I love you!

Sister Nielsen  

My new companion, Sis Jensen.

 

Decorating cookies with the Lokens, Bowies, and Sylvia.

 

 

 

A very Southern Christmas y'all...Santa upgraded from a sleigh!

 

 

 

December 1, 2014 - Thanksgiving Wind-up

Hey you guys!

        I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving and everyone is recovered from appendicitis (*cough cough* Uncle Warren). This week was crazy, between the holiday and Sis G preparing to go home today. We only have a few short hours together! Thanksgiving was fun, we ate with a family in our ward. Then on Saturday we ate fried turkey and mozzarella sticks with our Catholic neighbors. It was quite the party. We also had a gabillion dinners this week since everyone wanted to feed Sis G, so I am pretty full! We even went to breakfast at Chick fil A this morning with Tiarra so we could fit in one last meal! One of the best things we ate this week: pulled pork tacos with coleslaw on top. Soooooo good!

       This week we also went to the Museum of Discovery (I told everyone it was on Jimmy Fallon and they were convinced it would be cool). It was definitely the coolest thing in Arkansas I have seen thus far. They just had lots of little experiments, I'm pretty sure we were having just as much fun as the little kids there. My favorite: the tornado simulation, lying on a bed of nails, and petting a baby alligator. It was a fun last activity to have since a bunch of my friends are leaving this week.

       Yes, I did have spiritual experiences this week, I promise. There is a sweet blind lady in our ward who is stuck in a nursing home. This week we have been going to read the Book of Mormon to her. She loves it and gets teary-eyed every time we read it. She is such a sweetheart, and the Book of Mormon is so cool! I just love the spirit it brings and the strength it gives us every time we read. Scripture power is real y'all!

       I love you, hope everyone's week is fantastic!

Sister Nielsen

 

District meeting

Israel was baptized into the Spanish Branch...I wish you knew him, he is crazy!

Museum of Discovery



Lying on bed of nails!



 

Dinner with the Hawkes.

Chick-Fil-A with Tiarra.

 

November 25, 2014 - This Week in Arkansas

This week in Arkansas:

First of all, I had a "we definitely aren't in Utah any more" moment. We went to Walmart and it took us a good 10 minutes to find any hair products that were for white people! Oh man, I love Little Rock.

This week, Keith got the priesthood, he was very excited. And he finally got a picture Book of Mormon (before this he had the video ASL one and a normal English one). That picture book was the one for him! He used that and the English one together, and he understands so much better! He loved it so much he stayed up all night reading, it was awesome.

       So this week Jim, our stubborn eternal investigator, had some humbling things happen to him. He had asked for that, but it didn't help him. He instead was angry. It is crazy to see the difference between him and Ray. Ray's life is falling apart, but his testimony is so strong. He is relying on the Lord, and knows that the Lord has a plan for him. It seems like he has been abandoned, but he still has so much faith. And he told us that the experiences he has now will just enable him to be an example in the future. I know the Lord has a plan for Ray, and I wish I had the faith that Ray does. Great things will happen for Ray, just in the Lord's timing. We all have to be patient. Ray is so elect, I know his testimony will continue to grow and he will be baptized in the future, even though we all want it to happen now.

Have a happy Thanksgiving y'all! I am so grateful for all of you and for this Gospel, and I am especially grateful for the atonement of our Savior.

love,

Sister Nielsen

Specialized training

Brother Wells

Teaching Jim at the Wakolo's house.

Dinner with Sister Culwell and her neighbors Jamie and Don. It is always a party, every Wednesday!

Stuckey House

Ronika is a diva!

The Bowies always call it a Mormon party when the missionaries visit.



Sis G got this shirt from a kid in our ward who made this website. "Cowseatinggrass.com, tell your friends, tell your dad, tell your mom."

November 17, 2014 - Wards really are like families!

Hey y'all!

I don't really know what to write this week. It all of a sudden got real cold here. But still not as cold as Utah. One morning there was a teeny tiny bit of snow, and it was a big deal since this is the earliest it has snowed here since like 1951. We are keeping warm though, we are so grateful to have a car this week! 

     The man who was baptized last week, Karl, is so cool! He told us that for Sunday, we needed to "prepare ourselves" because we were going to take pictures. He has a file in his phone that has pictures of the ward members so he can show people his family! It is so cool how much he loves the ward and feels accepted there. Wards really are like families, I love it! 

     Well, that is about it. Ray is still looking for a house, and he is getting discouraged, but he is such a fighter. He has so many trials, but he keeps saying, "God can do everything but fail." I love Ray and his trust in the Lord, I know things will work out for him. 

Have a great week, love ya!

Sister Nielsen 

Dinner with the Duncans, the Lewises, and Gisheera. Sam and Isaiah actually smiled for a picture, but me and Sis G ruined it with our crazy-looking legs. 

This bridge looks a lot cooler and patriotic in real life, but we tried for a good pic :)

Our picture with Karl. He is a very snazzy dresser. 

November 10, 2014 - Pray for Ray

Hello, Hello!

     This week was pretty good. We have been working with Ray towards his baptism day. He really wanted to be baptized this weekend, but he still has not found a place to live. (Right now he is living with a woman that he used to date). Ray was very sad he couldn't get baptized yet, but with much fasting and prayer, he has some good options of where to go. He wants to get baptized so bad, so it will definitely happen as soon as he moves out. He understands how important baptism is, and even said that it is important for the rest of his family so he can do their temple work. Ray just gets it. 

     Yesterday Keith got confirmed, he really liked it. The other sisters in our ward also baptized a man named Karl who is very cool and will be a great member of our ward. His cousins came and they really enjoyed it, so maybe they can be baptized some day too :) The missionary work is rolling here in Little Rock!  

     Other than that, not much happened this week. We had a really fun dinner with the Locketts at Applebees. They taught us how to make ghetto lemonade: a glass of water, 2 lemons, and 3 packs of artificial sweetener. I was pretty impressed with our ghetto lemonade, you will have to try it! 

     For my birthday we had dinner with the Hawkes in our ward. They made a yummy pumpkin cake and loaded baked potatoes. It was a good birthday! 

    Have a good week y'all! Pray for Ray! That is a pretty good catch phrase, so it will be easy to remember :)

Love you!

Sister Nielsen

(Thanks to the Hawkes family for taking care of my girl on her birthday and sending me the pics!)

The Hawkes family made me a DELICIOUS "pumpkin dump cake." So good!

 

 

 

Dinner with the Locketts!

 

I love my new outfit Mom and Dad!