Remember...

Dear Family!

This week was really great! What else can I say...every day in the mission field is a blessing. We had a super special sacrament meeting. President Stone came and spoke to our branch! It was so awesome (even though we needed a translator). It was so wonderful. He pumped up the members to talk with at least one person a day about the gospel. He shared some really great experiences from across our mission. It was really awesome to have him here.

Y--- is doing so awesome! She has changed so much since we met her. She is loving the Book of Mormon and everything we teach. She is so excited for her baptism this Saturday!

We had a really awesome miracle this week. We have been working with one of our members to give us referrals. She is super great. A random person called her to ask about a room she rents out and she struck up a conversation with her. Anyway, they became really good friends over the phone and decided to meet in person, and when they did, our member introduced her to the gospel. The lady brought her nephew with her that day. Her nephew is named Kevin and he was taking the missionary lessons before he had to move here suddenly. We met him about 2 months ago but lost contact. Anyway, long story short, the Lord has led him into our path twice in miraculous ways, so we are really excited to meet with him tomorrow!

Another exciting highlight: I went inside a YMCA this week! We participated in a family history event at the YMCA, so we get free entrance because we are missionaries. While there, we met some guys who were walking from Tennessee to Colorado. We were walking to teach a lesson, and they were passing through our area. So we had a great walking lesson and were able to teach the restoration while we walked several miles to our appointment. We gave them pamphlets and explained to them how to find missionaries where ever they ended up. One of them had already read half the Book of Mormon.

Today for P-day we played a big basketball tournament with the missionaries and some members from the 1st Ward. It was super fun and I got so red in the face.

Helaman 5:12 - Remember to take the time to focus your life on Jesus Christ without him we can't achieve anything; with him we can achieve all things.

That's it. I will have more news next week! Transfers come in this weekend, but I think we aren't going anywhere!

Love y'all,
Hermana Nielson

P.S. Today is Memorial Day. Take a couple minutes to remember your favorite missionary! ;) 👇

P.P.S. Photos!
Our young member made us special shakes!

Something cutesy my comp did

Hna Ortiz loves selfies

I found a bear bigger than big fuzzy tip over bear

Opryland

Hey y'all!

This week was so special! It was so wonderful, we saw so many miracles!

We were asking for lots of referrals from everyone we met and on Tuesday, we received a great referral from some random guy on the street. When we arrived at the address he provided, we met a really nice family from Mexico who at first wasn't very interested but later really opened up as talked about families.

On Wednesday, we were able to have a really good lesson with some really hard to get in contact with less active members. A couple of days later, we had a member lined up to come out with us. We had set an appointment with an investigator. Another former investigator we had made contact with (who had a reputation of rejecting missionaries) set an appointment with us for the same evening. A couple days before that, a member had called us and asked if there was a time in the next couple weeks she could come out with us, and she was available at that time. So we invited her to come to that appointment. Long story short, they were best friends and we didn't know it. And what most likely would've ended in rejection ended in a really awesome teaching opportunity for a family that is prepared for the gospel! The member bore her testimony of how she had been trying to know how to share the gospel with this friend. We have a appointment with her this week.

Y--- is doing awesome! She is progressing magnificently toward her baptism! We were
working on her family history with her yesterday. She is going to be baptized on June 3rd.

We had an awesome Stake Conference this week. One of my favorite parts was when a recent convert bore his testimony. It was so sweet. He told his conversion story and it was just another testimony of how the Lord prepares people for his gospel.

This week has been wonderful! I love the gospel. My testimony grows more everyday and I love helping others feel this way about their Savior.

Sincerely,
Hermana Nielson

P.S. We went to the Grand Old Opry today!

Puchica ✨✨✨✨

☝️This is a word from Honduras that means "oh my goodness!"

Hello!

This week was fantastic!

There was a lot of opposition this week. We got dropped a couple of times and had to do some dropping. A lot of people are just very confused about religion, God, and just a million other things. One investigator has alot of doubts because he has a lot of faith in the Virgin Mary. The Catholic virgins have been causing us a lot of problems this week! An investigator preached to us from a standing position for a long time. We talked about the whole state of Jalisco. They weren't interested. A lot of really crazy stuff happened in the end it was great.

A member texted us on Saturday and invited us to their home to teach their friend. This friend had come to church on Sunday, and we had invited her to meet with us and she turned us down. But she had been asking her friend a lot of questions, and then he explained to her what it is that we do. She was actually very interested in meeting with us. She is 23 and is from Cuba. There aren't many religions there because, ya know, dictatorship. She has a spiritual background and is so receptive to the gospel. She understands and is so prepared. Her friend and his family are so funny. You can count on them to make the Restoration lesson to have the most laughs and stories about drugs ever. Yesterday we taught her how to pray, and she is loving it.

We had 3 investigators at church! It was so awesome! Two girls and one boy and everyone opened their arms so wide to them. It was great.

We have been focused this week in strengthening our faith. We have faith, but we want to have exceeding faith. Alma 13:3 tells us as we work at excercising our faith, it grows stronger. Many people from the scriptures had exceeding faith that helped them to do the miracles of the Lord. It's a very interesting study topic and is very applicable.

I love the gospel, I love being a missionary, and I love this work!

Hope y'all had a great week! Les amo muchísimo!

Con amor,
Hermana Nielson

P.S. Me and Hermana Ortiz

P.S.S. Watermelon the size of my head

P.S.S.S. I tripped...

P.S.S. My comp made me papaya juice, half delicious half tastes like vomita

P.S. She is prepared in style for the rain

"You have angel wings -- I just can't see them."

This week was really crazy! A start of a new transfer always brings a lot of craziness!

My new companion her name is Hermana Ortiz, and she is awesome! She is from the Dominican Republic and is such a amazing missionary. My Spanish skills have definitely been put to the test this week as Hermana Ortiz speaks little to no English. She is learning and doing so great, but sometimes I forget and just start speaking English. She just stares at me, blinks a few times,  and tells me kindly she doesn't understand. Fun fact about my companion - she has served in three different missions!

The work has been going really good this week! We set our investigator a baptismal date for the 3rd of June. He is trying really hard to find an answer and said he will be baptized on that day if he has his answer by that day. We are excited for him.

We have just seen a mountain of miracles this week. We received a less-active referral, and we were able to teach her. She and our less-active friend came to church yesterday. We also found a new family when we were out knocking doors on a really hot day. This family who just recently moved from Mexico. We are excited to teach them.

We walked a lot this week. And faced some opposition like a less-active member explaining to his investigator friend how Joseph Smith was his favorite Saint but the Mormons taught him not to ask to many favors of him and it's better to pray to God. It was a very interesting week to say the least. We have a lot of faith, and we are excited for what this transfer will hold!

Con amor,
Hermana Nielson

P.S. Presenting Hermana Ortiz

P.P.S. Any time is a good time for a Book of Mormon pic!