6.19.17

Can't Take the Heat, get out of TEXAS

MI FAMILIA Y MIS AMIGOS!!!

  OK wow people were not lying when they said Texas gets hot!!!!!! Haha this whole week has been in between 95-105 degrees. WOOOOOO. So we are dying out here. BUT this week was SO awesome it doesn't even matter. This past week we had our last zone conference with the Heaps! I seriously am going to miss President and Sister Heap so much!!!! They have helped me grow on my mission and come closer to my Savior Jesus Christ so much! But we're excited for the Hales to come :) We also had exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders and I love those sisters so much! I was on exchanges with Sister Carter, and we kind of knew each other before the mission, so it was so fun! We go home the same time too so it was awesome. 

  Ok so on Sunday, we had 11 INVESTIGATORS COME TO CHURCH. 11. It was honestly a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE! We were so happy! We filled the young mens, young womens, primary, priesthood, and relief society, and had 59 people at church!!! That is a record!!! WOOOOO. Church is so true. But in our gospel principles class we had all of our investigators and it was seriously like an AA meeting. We all went around and said our names and what we do for a living and why we're here at church. Haha well some of our investigators thought it would be wise for them to preach to us what their baptists preacher has taught them, so there was lots of hallelujah's and amen's. It was quite a scene hahha. But we are so excited to keep the work going with our investigators! 

  But I hope you all have a great week and look for miracles! I am so grateful to be out here on a mission spreading the good news of Jesus Christ! I love you all and don't forget to CTR. :))

con mucho amor,

hermana neilson

pics: 

- michael's brother Bubba, he is the BEST, but sadly he left for Houston today 

- bathroom selfie

- Mary Dowling, she's a recent convert that seriously makes us laugh like crazy

- exchanges with sister carter and sister burbidge

- me and elder nielsen from my MTC zone (everyone thinks we're related)

 

 

6.12.17

When you can't understand rejection...

HOLA MIS AMIGOS!!!!

    Ok so to explain the email caption. Ok so in the Lubbock Texas Mission, there is no areas where there are spanish speaking sisters. There's about 8 of us, and we're all spread out through the mission. So when I teach a spanish investigator i'm all by myself because my comp only knows english! So we were teaching a man named Roy Lopez, and he knows like 0 english, so I was teaching him the Restoration lesson, and when I asked him to be baptized and all that, he answered, but I couldn't really understand what he was saying, so I kind of danced around the question and asked him again! and then the third time with a fecha baptismal! (baptismal date) bahaha well I think he was getting frustrated because then he said in english "One baptism!!!" hahaha he was saying no the whole time! So that was a struggle, I guess I just don't take or understand rejection well....

  BUT michael had his baptismal interview, and he PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! So he's getting baptized on the 25th of June!!!! So blessings all around. But this week was SO much better! After trials come the blessings am i right??? This upcoming week we have zone conference and exchanges with the sister training leaders, and I'm seriously so excited! It's our last zone conference with President Heap before President Hales comes in, which is kind of sad, but it will be so good to hear from them! Anyways, I love you all so much!!!!! 

con MUCHO amor,

hermana neilson

 

 

6.5.17

It's Raining, It's Pouring....

HOLA TODO!

  So this week was an interesting one for sure haha. To be honest, it was a really hard week. We straight up only have like maybe 6 lessons, and we just knocked doors a TON this week. Which isn't THAT thrilling. But it also POURED this past week. And the lightning and thunder here is CRAZY! It seriously shakes the whole apartment! So we were up a lot too these past couple of nights, just because the thunder sounds like the sky is tearing in HALF. 

  But on Saturday we went to the northern part of our area (Breckenridge) and we had a ton of success! We are teaching this one girl we met while trying to contact a referral, and her name is Constance! Her boyfriend was in town for the weekend (he lives in Lubbock) and we taught both of them and their 2 kids the restoration, and they LOVED it! And at the end he was like "Well can y'all send missionaries to me in Lubbock?" WHAT! haha who asks that?! So of course we are getting missionaries over there STAT. And we got to go see our 2 other investigators that night and Argemiro is progressing so much! The only thing that is holding him back from being baptized is smoking still. But he is cutting down this week to 6 cigarettes a day! So little steps and we'll get him there. 

   Also!!! Our investigator Michael Ryals came to church with his 2 kids and his kids LOVED church, so blessings all around for primary! haha but we also got to teach the young women this past sunday, well young WOMAN, there was only one yesterday, and we taught her about the priesthood. But we then ended the week with meeting with one of our potentials (Phillis) and we taught her the Plan of Salvation and she loved it! So WOO got a new investigator.

   Something that kind of helped me this week though, was reading from Jesus the Christ. It helps you understand our savior Jesus Christ SO much more! I can honestly testify that I know that man is my Savior, and I wouldn't be out here in the middle of Eastland Texas if I couldn't bear that witness. Being a missionary is SO hard, but it's so rewarding in a ton of ways! I just can't believe it's June, time flies. But this gospel brings so much peace to people, I just wish more people could see that! So if you have missionaries in your ward, give them referrals, and rides to places, and go on splits with them, it honestly MAKES the missionary's day!!! I promise!!!!! 

  I LOVE Y'ALL MUCHO! thanks for all the prayers and updates. HAPPY JUNE!

Hermana Neilson

 

 

5.30.17

God Made, Jesus Saved, Texas Raised

HOLA TODO!

  Happy (late) Memorial Day!!!!!!! Our library was closed so we get to email today! This week was really amazing! We had 20 lessons from the entire week, and every one was straight fire! We are currently working with 17 investigators, and 8 of them have a baptismal date. We are trying our hardest though to get people to church! (If only people could know that their baptist church doesn't hold the same authority as our church). BUT we committed our investigator (Argemiro) to hand out pamphlets this past week, and he left one of them at the coffee shop! bahahaha he's really trying his best to live the word of wisdom ;) 

  

  We also did a TON of service this past week! We helped an elderly man clean out his pool (because it was filled with algae) and then we got to catch all the frogs that were left! It was so fun! And we also helped a lady along with like 17 other people move into her house! that was quite the experience.... 

  Something i've really learned about being a missionary this week, is we carry the message of the restored gospel of jesus christ UNTO people's hearts, not INTO people's hearts. It doesn't matter if the spirit is radiating like fire, if the person has a closed (not sincere) heart, they won't accept the message we share. Something I started studying though this past week is "Jesus the Christ", and it's helped me strenghten my relationship with the Savior Jesus Christ! So I recommend that book to all of y'all :))) 

  Well thanks for the emails/ updates/ prayers, I seriously love all of you so much and I can't believe I've been out 7 months! Crazy how time flies! Enjoy the beach and swimming, it got up to 109 here with 90 percent humidity, and i thought for a hot second my life might have ended. Gotta love TEXAS! 

LOVE YALL MUCHO!

Hermana Neilson 

5.22.17

Another Transfer in Eastland!!!!!!

HOLA TODO!

  So transfer calls came and I'm staying in Eastland with Sister Allart! We are so excited!!!! This past week was straight FIRE. We got 5 new investigators and 3 baptismal dates were extended! Literally these people came out of nowhere!! Haha but this week was really interesting. When we were out tracting on Tuesday we were walking around a ton, and a Pitbull attacked me and bit me, so now I have a hole in my fav shirt. "Bad for the body, good for the souls". But it didn't even matter because we had such a successful day that day! But the end of the week we were on storm watch for a HUGE part of the day, so we were on lock down. We had some tornadoes in our area, but luckily no one we know of was hurt, so blessings all around! But it's been nice having some cooler weather, it's supposed to get up to the 100's this week! AH! 

  ALSO!!!! Our investigator, Michael, QUIT SMOKING!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH we were so happy!!! Haha he has been "sober" for a week. So we are really excited to see his progression in this gospel and coming closer to Christ! He has been an addict since he was 18, so this is insane!! Blessings all around. We have been connecting a lot more with people in the Branch too, and we are finally starting to gain the trust of members here! (elders in the past kind of ruined things for a bit) But I'm really excited for this transfer! It will be my 3rd one here! But sadly it's only 5 weeks long because we are getting a new mission president, so things will be different in the mission for a bit. But Eastland is amazing, and the people here are so awesome. All is well :)) Love y'all and hope y'all have a great week! Thanks for the updates :)

con muchismo amor,

hermana neilson