June 22, 2015 - Biking Fail

Hello!

This week has been fantastic too!  

So we taught Eva a lot this week, with a lot of members. She doesn't feel like she needs to be baptized again, so that's not so fantastic, but reading the Book Of Mormon should help her get a testimony of that. It was really rough, we want her to understand and have a testimony of her own. 

On Thursday we tried biking. It was a fail. Sis Kennach crashed before we even got out of the apartment complex. She thought she could pop up onto the curb for some reason. She got real scraped up so we went back, bandaged her up, and then tried again. We made it about a mile before my tires were completely flat. We ditched our bikes at a Spanish member's house then walked the rest of the way. On the bright side, something about missionaries walking two hours to see someone softens their heart. We had an awesome lesson with Tia. We have taught her husband a bit and he is super elect, and then we were finally able to teach her. She is super elect too! She said the Restoration makes more sense than anything she has ever heard, and that she has a strong feeling she should go to church with us (she didn't make it this week they were out of town). But yay! So awesome! 

Then yesterday a deaf lady we met a few weeks ago came to church. She loved it! That was the first time I saw her smile with her teeth. She even helped out serving up ice cream for Father's Day. She says she will be coming every week and wants her sister to come too. 

Nautica and Torenzo came to church, and afterwards Terry helped us teach them and we set a baptismal date with them. It is very interesting to teach people with very little Christian background, but they are doing great. They hopefully will be going to youth conference this week too. 

After church we walked a long 10 miles, and we walked into the apartment complex super exhausted. Then a lady came over to talk to us. I was shocked because normally people don't come talk to us. She said she lived in Provo for six years and her husband went to BYU. She loves the church and feels "warm" whenever she sees the missionaries. She asked where the church was around here, and we set up an appointment with her. I asked what kept her from being baptized before and she said, "I don't know, I'll have to work on that." She is so awesome! So worth walking 10 miles for. God is just awesome.

Well, hope you are having a fantastic time and I love you lots!

Sister Nielsen 

So my name sign is an "n" across my forehead because of my bangs. But yesterday I wore my bangs up because it was so hot. So naturally, Terry changed my name sign to be an "n" on top of my head instead.

Sister Peyson wanted a good picture before we got all sweaty. That was a good plan because right after this her car broke down and it got real hot while we were waiting for her husband to come fix it! 

June 15, 2015 - FANTASTIC!

This week has been FANTASTIC!

Last week at church, Sister Kidd brought her son's girlfriend, Shyronika, to church. We were talking to her, then Sister Kidd came over and said, "Hey she needs to learn the plan of salvation, she will be at my house Tuesday after 6." Ok! So we taught Shyronika the plan and it was great. I invited her to be baptized, and she gave the typical Southern answer, "Again?" The grandma said, "Sweetie, they are asking you to change your religion, is that ok with you?" She said, "Yeah, I kinda like this one better." YAY! She is super ready and has so many questions and is eager to learn. 

Then on Friday we all went to Little Rock to hear Elder Kopischke of the 70 talk. It was amazing, he had us all right down what questions we had in our journals, then he followed the spirit and by the end, all of our questions were answered. We were super motivated and received a lot of revelation, it was great! 

Saturday we stayed in Little Rock to go to a huge deaf event with Sister Jensen and Sister Garcia. It was awesome! The people from our area weren't interested, but we helped the other sisters get two new investigators. We also ran into Tiara, she had been thinking of us and decided to go to church Sunday. Ronika came and was totally sharing her testimony with everyone. The event was fun, they had deaf performers and all sorts of booths. One guy put on a concert and was rapping and singing (in sign) to some very loud music. There was also Matt Hamil (the Hammer), a famous deaf man who was a wrestler and UFC fighter. We totally gave him a Restoration video and he signed our Book of Mormons. We thought it was so cool!

Then we helped interpret for their stake conference. Elder Kopischke spoke again, and I got to see Keith! Elder Kopischke, Matt Hamil, and Keith, all in one day! And a bunch of my missionary friends. It was great. 

Sunday morning, we had to wake up and drive back to Southaven for church. We were really stupid and left our phone in Arkansas! We had been trying to find a ride for Torenzo the night before, but in the morning we couldn't call anyone without our phone. We were so upset that he wouldn't make it to church. But we walked in and there he was! Jelena had picked him up! Miracles! 

In conclusion, this week rocked and God is awesome and the Church is true. Love you all!

Sister Nielsen

Friends!

The LR hermanas.

Tiara

Pictures from our ride home.

Sister Matkin and Sister Bryce

Sister Garcia and Elder Jones

 

June 8, 2015 - I LOVE FIREFLIES

Hey y'all!

So first of all, can I just say I LOVE FIREFLIES. Actually, I prefer the word "lightning bug," it is just so cute. I saw them for the first time about a month ago, and now they are everywhere. One of the best things in the South, hands down. 

This week we got iPads. At first, I didn't want the change. Now I am starting to see they can be pretty useful. It is pretty cool to be able to pull up a video or conference talk to add to a lesson. Also pretty cool to have pretty much all the words of the prophets EVER in your hand. Technology is real good when used for good. 

Eva is doing great! She loved the Plan of Salvation, totally accepted to Word of Wisdom, and is really looking forward to her baptism. There was one day we really wanted a member to come to her lesson, but it didn't work out. Fortunately God knows what He is doing. Eva was really able to open up when it was just us. Of course, she gets more comfortable with others over time. I love her and am so excited for her. 

Today I was reading a talk from conference about "eternal perspective." He talked about how a little boy watched Michelangelo carve David, then asked, "How did you know he was in there?" I love that God knows the person that really is inside us. He knows our potential and who we can be. The world says it doesn't matter what we do and we should just "be ourselves," but God knows our true self and who we can be. We must follow Him to achieve that potential. He is the artist and will make us a masterpiece if we allow Him. 

Love y'all,

Sister Nielsen 

Lovin' these Mississippi trees.

These girls are ready to hit the road!

Out to lunch at Huey's.

Sister Mullen's b-day.

June 1, 2015 - The Restored gospel is truly amazing

Hola!

This week has been real good. Monday started it off, we went to see a lady named Eva and set a baptismal date with her. We had met her and her son before and he was quite the chatter box, but Eva snuck in some some comments that made us think she was elect. We went back, and sure enough! A member had given her a Book of Mormon 20 years ago and she still has it. So cool to see that someone planting a seed is now coming full circle. She came to church yesterday too, she is super awesome! 

       Wednesday we went to Little Rock and Elder Zwick came to train us for the iPads. It was a great meeting and cool to see how the Lord gives us many tools to do His work, and we must use all of them. Another interesting thought is that as we learn to use technology and develop self-control and good habits on our mission, those skills will continue when we go back, and we will be strong against temptation. 

       Yesterday was great too. Eva came to church, and so did Torenzo, and Terry got the priesthood. Hooray! Armando conferred the priesthood on him and I got to interpret. It is so amazing to see people progress. I also love to see people's friendships develop in the Gospel. The gospel is all about love and serving each other, the priesthood is just one of many ways that people can serve their family and friends. The Restored gospel is truly amazing. 

I love y'all, have a fantastic week!

Sister Nielsen

Feeding the ducks on Memorial Day.

Riding the bus to LR. Made me think of band.

Sister Pemberton came for exchanges.

 

Saying bye to Sister Cahoon from the mission office.