October 27, 2014 - Big Dam Bridge

Guys, this week was awesome!

Before anyone zones out, the high light of the week is that Jessie and Keith had their baptismal interviews yesterday. They are getting baptized on Saturday and the whole service is going to be in ASL. It will be awesome, so please pray for them this week, ok? Jessie FINALLY threw out his coffee! And this week Keith just gave up cigarettes, beer, and coffee, cold turkey. They are both so ready and so excited. They heard they were getting baptized the same day and then they became BFFs. It is so cute, I love them both so much.

      Other good news: Ray finally picked a baptism date and he told us he doesn't need beer anymore. And last night we a mini MTC for the youth, and at the end Ray bore his testimony of the Book of Mormon and how meeting the missionaries changed his life. The whole ward was in tears and is so excited for missionary work.

     This week, we got to interpret at the mission home for the new DEAF SISTER. Sister Garcia is so cool. She grew up speaking Spanish, became hard of hearing for no apparent reason at 7, then learned ASL and English. She learned ASL from her siblings because her brother became deaf when he got sick one time, and her sister is deaf because she got hit by a taxi. It is crazy! Also, she was baptized 2 years ago, and the only other member family she has is her deaf brother. The rest of her family is Catholic. She is in Mississippi right now. We are getting another deaf sister next month. SO I will probably have a deaf companion on my mission. The deaf work is just about to explode here, I can feel it!

     This week we went to "See a Song" at UALR. Students, teachers, interpreters, and a really cool deaf guy signed along to love songs and break up songs. It was a lot of Carrie Underwood and Bruno Mars. It was so fun and we met a lot of deaf people. The deaf community here is starting to know us; they are being prepared for all the work that is going to happen!

 

I love you all, have a FANTASTIC week!

Sister Nielsen

 

At the ward Trunk or Treat Dinner. The costume? Switched name tags.
 



Happy Halloween from the sisters and the Bowies!

Ronika went around the party all night saying, "I'm lost, I'm at the wrong church." "I'm a nun now, I can't go to the temple." Everyone loved it! She and Jessie are the cutest!

Sister Garcia

Keith!!!!!

Yep. It's really the Big Dam Bridge.

 

Too much fun at the store!

 

 

October 20, 2014 - "Joseph Smith is SO COOL!"

Hello all!

This week has been pretty good. We have a lot of investigators who are making good progress.

This week we finally have started teaching Ray again (he has been working until midnight the last few weeks). He promised he will get baptized before Sis G leaves in December. We had a lesson with him and a member, Brother Buchanan. Bro. Buchanan shared with Ray the definition of grace from the Bible Dictionary. Ray loved it and asked us to make him a copy he can have in his pocket at all times. He is so sweet! And, without us even talking to him about it, he has started looking for a house so he can stop living with his lady friend. He has such a strong testimony and is now making the changes he needs.

     This week we also started teaching Brenden(13) and Kaleb(10). Their family is complicated. Connie and Marnita are sisters. Marnita adopted Bailey and Lissie, her brother's kids. Connie is married to Cecil and adopted Brenden and Kaleb, another brother's kids. All 7 of them live together, and they also live with Marnita and Connie's aunt that has Down Syndrome. Brenden was just legally adopted, and Kaleb has been waiting for baptism because of developmental issues, but they are going to get baptized now! They are all so loud, but super fun, and Marnita and Connie are awesome cooks. Brenden is so excited to get baptized and he says, "Joseph Smith is SO COOL!" And he says he knows God answers prayers because he prayed for so long to be adopted. I love their family and can't wait for Brenden and Kaleb's baptism. It is just awesome that we get to be a part of it.

Have a good week, I love you all!

Sister Nielsen

 

We had fun Halloween shopping at Target!

Enjoying the mustache straw you sent me!

This sign makes us laugh every time we look at it on our wall!

 

October 13, 2014 - "I can't hear you, I'm deaf!"

Hello!

     I am going to start off with some humorous incidents involving deaf people. One day this week, the elders told us they met a deaf lady at her friend's house. We asked, "Is the friend deaf too?" One elder replied, "No, she's alive." He was super embarrassed and apparently has been teaching the dead. :) 

     One night this week we had dinner with Ronika's family at another member's house. Her son wasn't eating his food, so Ronika signed to him: "If you don't eat, and then you come home and tell me you are hungry, I'll say, 'I can't hear you, I'm deaf!'" I love Ronika! 

     Speaking of Ronika, guess what we got to do yesterday? We got to go with her to Arkadelphia (best town name ever), to interpret for her patriarchal blessing! So cool, and an experience most missionaries don't get to have. The spirit was so strong and her blessing just reaffirmed her greatest desire, to share the Gospel with the deaf. It is seriously all she ever talks about, it is so cute! It was a really good experience for everyone, and Jessie enjoyed it too. We are all excited for his baptism next month! 

     This week we have been working with a deaf man Keith, who is also getting baptized in November. He has started to feel more comfortable signing with us, and he communicates so much better when he just signs instead of talking and signing. It is so cool to watch him change as he learns about the gospel, he practically glows now! 

     Well, I love you all! I hope you have a good week!

Sister Nielsen

This cute gas station across from Central High! 



On the trolley around down town.



The Old State House museum. Apparently the girl from Creature from the Black Lagoon is from Arkansas. 

And we all know President Clinton is from here too :)

The museum was actually super fun, lots of movie things. And cool old dresses that the first ladies of Arkansas have worn. I don't care who wore them, but they were super pretty gowns! 



Central High!



Ronika dressing up as Sister Grindstaff for Halloween (she's actually going to be Whoopi Goldberg).



Interpreting at Young Women in Excellence with Sylvia.

October 6, 2014 - Conference

      This week I experienced my first tornado. It was not as scary as it sounds. We went to see an investigator, and he told us we needed to leave because it was going to rain, but we convinced him to let us teach him. During the prayer, the tornado siren went off, and as we finished, the wind was blowing like crazy. We ran to our car and accidentally left Sis G's purse on the porch. We hurried to a member's home, and it was raining like crazy! We definitely have never had that kind of rain in Utah. We said a prayer with the members and hung out in their bathroom and listened to the radio. The tornado went right over where we had been teaching, but it didn't touch down. Sis G was worried about her purse, and called Keith, who is hard of hearing, to get it from his porch. He can't hear anything, he just should give up his phone and get texting :) The storm soon passed, and then we went to get the purse, and it survived! All in all, it wasn't too bad of a storm, but now I know what to do in a tornado!

       The highlight of the week: Jessie, Ronika's husband, hasn't been baptized and won't give up coffee. He can't read, and doesn't sign very well, so he has a hard time communicating. He gets frustrated very easily. But, this week an elder who knows ASL went to visit him and they set a baptismal date! We went to see Jessie one night and he was so excited to tell us. He just kept saying "Nov 1. Elder Derrick." Then we asked Ronika if she would say a prayer before we left. Jessie raised his hand and volunteered. He has NEVER prayed with us before. He would always just get frustrated and yell at us. But he said Elder Derrick taught him. Then he said the best prayer ever. He stumbled so much, and just listed off a bunch of things like his wife and his family and his favorite interpreter at church, Jason (aka Thor), and then said amen. It was so cute and he and Sis G were teary-eyed and I was just crying buckets. Then after conference, Jason gave him a blessing to overcome his coffee addiction and everyone was crying! Jessie is so excited and it is so cool to see how his heart has changed! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!

      Besides the storm, this week has been amazing! Friday we felt we needed to call this family that we don't know, and when we called them they started crying. They had just finished with court hours before and legally adopted their brother's kid. Now that he is theirs, they can teach him the gospel and want us to do it! So cool! We also ended up at Sister Culwell's, a member who has fed the missionaries every Wednesday for the last 60 years (also Elizabeth Culwell's grandma, a girl in my YSA ward), just as she found out she had cancer. The thing is, she is so positive that I think we gained more from the visit than her. She just has such a trust in the Lord, she is a trooper!

      Conference was fabulous, of course! And it was really good for our investigator Jim. I haven't told you about him, but he has been coming to church every week since June and is just a stubborn guy. Let me give you some examples of his comments: "I just get more and more stubborn everyday." "I have the fruit (from Lehi's dream) in my hand but I am just not biting it." "What is the political purpose of the church?" "Why are you tricking me into being baptized?" Anywho, He loved Pres. Uchtdorf's talk and got a blessing after. It was a perfect talk for him! He asked one of the elders why he learns things and then forgets them. They replied, "Like Uchtdorf said, you can't gain more until you act on what you know. Have you acted on what you know?" That made Jim real quiet.

 

Have a good week y'all, I love you!

Sister Nielsen

    

October 3, 2014 - Texts and Tornadoes

This morning as I was leaving work, I pulled my phone out of my bag and saw this text:  Just letting you know that your daughters were safe during our tornado. They are heading back to their apartment. J
Next were these two photos:

When I texted this member back thanking them for the texts and photos, they sent back this:
Interesting point. President Wakola asked the missionaries to find two homes in their area that they could use as "safe" houses. Sister Grindstaff asked for our home on Sunday. They were less than one mile away when the storm hit. They are both superior missionaries and we love them.
It is so great to know that the Lord and other members watch out for our children when they are serving Him.
Marcie, aka Sharly's mom