Bruises on Our Knees

     Oh my goodness! This week has been such a great week! I love reading all the emails. The food is still tasting very good but very similar (not much variety). 

     We got two new investigators - fake investigators - this week. It really helps our Spanish to practice lessons. One of my favorite parts of the week was Hermana W and I spent a solid amount of time of preparing a lesson on faith. We collected seeds for one of our investigators, and we ran out of translation time. So I just freelanced the story of the Seed of Faith completely in Spanish, and it was pretty funny. But it was also like really spiritual. In the middle of the same lesson, I was telling of the miracles I've seen and I told our investigator that I had seen many "Wednesdays" because Wednesday is "Miericoles", and "Miracles" is "Milagros". But it was still a very spiritual lesson despite all of that. 
     I love the CCM and the Spirit that flows all the time. I love my companion and my district. We are like a little family. In the CCM, most everyone speaks Spanish all the time. The missionaries who have been here 5 weeks speak Spanish around the clock. The natives speak no English, so we speak English in our district and that's about it. 
     One of my other favorite parts of the week is that we have amazing devotionals on Tuesdays. It is usually by an area authority in Spanish with an English translator. Before the devotional, I was sitting by some of the natives, and we were having the best conversation. It wasn't smooth and my pronunciation needs work, but we semi-understood each other. It was so fun. 
     This week, we memorized a lot of things in Spanish, and it has been hard but helpful because we know so many more words. 
     Everyday I am grateful I am on the inside of the CCM and not on the outside because it seems a little "sketch". 
     Another favorite thing about the CCM is that we are always singing. We are always singing hymns in Spanish and always singing just about every song we can remember. It is so fun. I never thought i would like singing, but i do and I sing all the time. Hermana W is a fabulous singer, so we went to choir and everything. 
     The subject of this email is from a joke Hermana W and I have. The joke is that we have bruises on our knees from kneeling and praying so much. We don't even care -- it is a truly wonderful problem to have. \ Just to clarify for Mom -- no actual bruises\. 
     I am really loving the CCM. The spirit is always so strong. Estoy es muy feliz. Cada dia es bendicíones. 

Te amo,

Hermana Nielson

Parrots in the Palm Trees‏

Hola!
     This week has seriously been the craziest week of my life! I love it here at the CCM! I received your hand-delivered letter,  Mom! It worked great, I cant believe I have already been here a week. It's called the CCM (say/ say/ emmy). It stands for Centre de Captiones Missional.  I have so much to say. 
     First, the food is pretty good. They usually have about one american dish each day. This morning I had pancakes and a hamburger the other day. Other than that, its pretty much mexican food. I can say i have definitely eaten some interesting things, but most of it is pretty good, and they have awesome sauces! So as long as you like the flavor of the sauce, everything tastes good. 
     It is really great here! My companion's name is Hermana W. She is really a cutie, and she is from Las Vegas. We get along great. She is a little shy, but we power through. She is going to Tennesssee with me. We are the only ones going to Tennessee. I think there is one elder out and about that is going there as well, but we haven't really spoken. 
     The CCM is a really personal place. There are about 250 people that are here now and about 100 of them are natives so really you know everyone. Danica Nusink from Springville that I played sports with showed up last night. 
     Spanish is going well. I was doing really well memorizing words, but now we are memorizing the First Vision and whole phrases and that's a little harder. I have a great district. They are so fun. They are all going states side. Our district leader is actually headed right to Orem, Utah. He's never been to Utah, so I told him he'd really like it. There are only two of us in our zone from Utah, which is surprising. 
     One of the craziest things is that on our second full day here, we had to teach an investigator a gospel lesson in full-out Spanish! She wasn't a real investigator; turned to be one of our teachers. My companion speaks even less Spanish than me, and because I am the senior companion, I gave basically the whole first lesson. It was really hard. Thirty minutes speaking entirely in Spanish -- it was crazy. We just finished our lessons with that investigator because she got "baptized. We'll be getting a new investigator soon. 
     Its really great here. Yesterday, we  had a great worldwide devotional for ALL missionaries. We thought it was going to be on changing the length of a missions to three years, but it was just on working with members and teaching simple doctrine. It was really awesome. 
     We get gym time everyday. Hermana W and I even went for a run and did real exercises. The last two times, we have played volleyball with our zone, and it has been really fun. Everybody is really nice and has the Spirit. 
     There are some actual bright green parrots that live in the palm trees all around campus. 
     Don't let my face deceive you. In the picture I am actually freezing. Its not quite as warm as I hoped it would be, but better than Utah. It's still winter, and I have to wear a sweater because it is cold at 7 am. But if the sun is out, it's comfortable. 
     I am learning so much...not enough to carry on a conversation with the natives, but I sat by some at breakfast the other day, and we could say things to each other. Not a fluid conversation, but enough to speak. People laugh at me a lot when I speak Spanish, but i can't tell if its because I am funny or just bad at Spanish. It has been a great week that feels like a lifetime. Happy to be here! 
With love,
Hermana Nielson

This picture is of my zone.  Elder N is the Samoan.  He is from California is going to Denver, CO. The Ecuadorian Justin Bieber is Elder C and he is from Kansas City but speaks great Spanish. The little one is Elder E headed to Salt Lake City. The other one is Elder G going to Orem, and he is the district leader.

First Mission Letter from the CCM

Sent on 1/13/2016

I made it to the CCM (Mexico City MTC) at last! It was a long trip, but I am glad to be here! If my writing is bad its because this keyboard is very different and hard to type with.

Did you know that Mexico City is the 2nd largest city in the world? It is so big we couldn't even see from one side to the other from the plane. I actually did get a window seat. The stewardess switched us. There ended up being about 25 missionaries on our flight. The drive to the CCM was terrifying. No lanes, lights, or any rhyme or reason. At one point, we were going down a side street only big enough for our bus. Mexico City is an interesting place. It reminds me of a larger Ensenada times a million. Everything is pretty old. The nicest thing I've seen so far is the CCM. We knew we had to be close when we saw an un-spray painted wall.

I have only been here about 2 hours and dinner was one of those. The doctor was trying to give me a shot until I found the right record. Whew! Everyone is being really nice. I got my first companion, Hermana W. She is from Las Vegas, and we are both going to Nashville. The CCM is a very safe place with a beautiful view. I feel my Spanish getting better already. I am going to find my casa now. I love you very much!.

Hermana Nielson

P.S. My P-day is Thursday. So I will email again on Thursday. xoxoxo

Abby's Mission Blog

This blog has been created to store letters, pictures, and other mission items for Hermana Abby Nielson. We want as many of her friends and family to be a part of her mission journey as possible. So we will post her information here weekly for you to view. Even though it says it's posted by Abby Nielson, the posts will be done by either her mom or dad. We hope you enjoy!