8.28.17

We saved ONE soul....a dog

HOLA TODO!

  Another week in Hereford, TX! Well me and sister Linford are doing a lot better this week than we were last! Haha we have cleaned up the area a ton and have been working hard to get a teaching pool, so we are saying lots of prayers. We have been receiving lots of phone calls from the Assistants, and our zone leaders and everyone, "checking up on us" (aka getting the juicy gossip about Hereford), so it has been so weird. Apparently this is one of the hardest areas in the mission, why I was put here, i have no clue! hahaha 

  So last Monday we were driving around, and i accidentally hit a ditch and popped a hole in the tire. Well when we went to go to district meeting (which is 45 minutes away) and we were trying to fill up the tire, but of course it wouldn't hold any air. so then these 2 police cars pull up, and they said "Follow us, we know a tire guy" haha so we got escorted through Hereford to this tire guy and they fixed our tire for free! Tender mercy! haha

  When we were walking on Thursday all over, this cute little chihuahua was following us, so we named him Ammon. Well, when we were parked on that same street on Saturday, Ammon found us! So we picked him up and brought him back to the car and fed him some granola and water. We didn't have anything else! haha so then he fell asleep, and we were like "Great, what do we do......" haha so we drove to the animal shelter, but it was closed! So we were outside the animal shelter for like 20 minutes debating what to do, and then that SAME POLICE MAN drove up and offered to take the dog till the morning when the shelter would open up! What are the chances!!! haha so we saved one soul, a dog named Ammon. 

  Other than that it has been pretty chill here in Hereford the past couple of days. But that's ok, we are going to find, teach, and baptize, and everyone will be happy. We asked our branch president what we could do to help the branch, and he said and i quote "Find 10 new families" no joke. he literally said that. So here goes to finding 10 new families? hahaha 

  I hope y'all have a great week and find miracles in everything. I am so grateful to be a missionary! I don't how 10 months have already passed. TIME FLIES. 8 more months in the service of our Lord ;)) LOVE Y'ALL MUCHO!!!

Hermana Neilson

8.21.17

Little Mexico

HOLA MI FAMILIA Y MIS AMIGOS!!!!

   So Hereford, Texas...... Well haha it is a LOT different than Eastland. There has been elders here for the past 10 YEARS basically, and we are the first sisters, so we are white washing. It is so hard! Haha we got to our apartment on Tuesday, and oh my word (imagine the song "Murderer" in the movie pyscho) we opened the door and it was horrendous! Everything was broken or not clean or missing, so we spent the first 3 days just cleaning our apartment. It was SO bad. And then we looked in the area book to get information on the people here, and it hadn't been updated since APRIL! I about died. Our mission president pulled me and my companion aside and told us that this area would be hard, because it's basically dead and me and my comp need to resurrect it. Oh boy. So we have been working as hard as we can! 

   A little background info on Hereford though, it's the beef capital of the world. Aka there is seriously cows EVERYWHERE. so everything smells like cow poop. No joke. BUT 90% of the people here all speak spanish!!!!! only spanish!!!!! So it has been amazing to be able to teach in spanish and find and everything!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH I'm in spanish heaven!!!!!! The branch is half english half spanish, so i, along with our branch mission leader, am in charge of translating sacrament meeting, teaching gospel principles (in spanish), and translating relief society. I am getting this language down! haha 

  We went out knocking on Thursday for 6 hours, and we found 2 new investigators! so that was good. But we are trying to find other ways we can find people, just cause knocking is only fun for so long ;)) The members here aren't really fans of the missionaries, just cause elders have burned bridges in the past, so we are working a TON on gaining the trust of the branch back. Cause missionary work is kind of miserable if the members aren't in on it (hint hint be nice to your missionaries). This place just has lots of damage control, so we are going to fix it! 

  Ok something to lighten the mood. So on Wednesday, when i went to go shower, i could find the nob to turn on the shower head, so i asked my comp, and she couldn't find it either! So i found this weird switch behind the toilet and it didn't do anything, so i just kept flicking it. Well we walked outside to go ask our neighbor what to do, and she was like "Y'all keep setting off the alarm!" and we were like "What alarm???" and she said "This used to be an old person apartment complex, so there are switches behind the toilet in case they fell and couldn't get up!" bahahahahahha i had set off the apartment alarm like 7 times! It was too good. 

  Anywho, my new comp is Sister Linford, and she is awesome! We are laughing all the time so we get along great :)) She's from spanish fork Utah! All my comps are from Utah out here haha but it's good. We share the some love of missing cafe rio and swig ;))

  Thanks for the emails and updates! I love and miss y'all mucho! Eat some in-n-out for me :))

hermana neilson

8.14.17

The weirdest WEEK of my mission, and I'm going to HEREFORD (Cow Country)

HOLA MI FAMILIA Y MIS AMIGOS!!!!

  Ok, so first things first, I AM GETTING TRANSFERRED. I am devastated. I seriously love Eastland, so the past 2 days has just been me crying to members, and then members crying to me. It's been great haha. But seriously i love eastland, and i'm so sad i only had 4 transfers there! 6 months wasn't long enough. But yes, you read that right, i am going to HEREFORD. For those of you who don't know where Hereford is, it's ok cause i didn't either. Apparently it's in the middle of nowhere up by Amarillo, and it's world famous for it's COWS. The members here said it constantly stinks of cow poop. So that should be lovely. But I am going to be companions with Sister Linford! So I'm once again the only spanish sister up there haha but it's another branch, so i am SO excited!!! I love serving in branches :)) 

  OK. So we took Michael up to the Lubbock temple this week, and it was a nightmare! So we had to stop at the mission office before we went to the temple, so all the members and Michael just kept going to the temple, and we would just meet them there. Well me and hermana Green get there and Michael had already gone to the baptismal font and was drying off! And we were like "What?! we missed it?!" so we were like super upset, so we told him to get dressed and we'll just do it again. So we were in the waiting room at the temple, and then all of the sudden we saw Michael getting escorted out of the temple, by the temple PRESIDENT. So we ran out and Michael explained to us that he got bored and started taking PICTURES inside the temple. Oh my word. We were speechless. So then we just sat outside the temple for 2 hours while the rest of our group finished. On the bright side though basically everyone from my last area was going to the temple that day, so I was able to see Hermana Melendez (mi madre) and my old Ward mission leader's family. LOVE THEM. 

  So then after the temple madness, we all got on the road, and we were a little ahead of the other car we were caravaning with, and about 30 minutes out of Lubbock the other car blew a tire. So we turned around and went to go help (Shoutout to my old job UVU atuomotive). So when we got there Hermana Green REALLY had to use the bathroom, so we spotted an RV down the road and went and knocked on their door. Well they let us in and let us use the bathroom! They were a cute family going on vacation to Colorado! So of course we shared the gospel with them while we were in there hahah. But we all made it back safely to Eastland :))

  Ok last weird thing. So our neighbors offered to take us out to dinner on Friday night, so of course we said yes! Well we got on the road and kept driving, and driving, and driving, till we realized we weren't in the mission boundaries anymore! YEA. So they took us to this Gospel singing restaurant where they had live singers and it was so cool! But we felt so weird as missionaries there haha. It's in a town called Thurber texas, population : 5 people. 

  Ok wow super long email, but yea this week was SO weird. But yea my time in Eastland has been my favorite so far on my mission, and i'm so glad that Sister Lundberg, Allart, and Green were my companion's here. They're awesome. I really feel like my testimony of Jesus Christ has grown so much here, and it makes me so sad to leave, but I know that the Lord wouldn't assign me to Hereford if i wasn't supposed to be there. So it should be interesting! But thank y'all for all the emails, letters, and updates, they make my life. Tengan un buen semana!

con mucho amor,

Hermana Neilson

ps. Here's my new address! :))

301 W. 15th St. #8

Hereford, TX 79045

8.7.17

The Font has been FILLED

HOLA TODO!

  So this week. MICHAEL AND LATOSHA ARE BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!! AH. Such a good feeling. We were seriously so happy for them! So many tears and good vibes at that baptism. So finally after teaching Michael since April, he is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. AND he's got the priesthood now, and will be baptizing his kids at the end of this month! Seriously blessings all around. The baptisms were kind of funny though, the people that were baptizing couldn't really remember how to old someone who is getting baptized, so little to say, there was water everywhere, and we had to dunk them a couple of times, BUT they got completely submerged. So that's all that matters haha 

  ALSO, ok y'all this is crazy. So we were teaching this kid named Isaac, he moved here from KENYA, and loves to talk about Jesus Christ. So when we taught him the Restoration, he was like "I've already been baptized" (shocker) so the next 4-5 lessons we stressed priesthood authority a TON. And finally this past lesson, it clicked, AND HE ACCEPTED BAPTISM!! But then he told us after the lesson he is moving to ODESSA. So that was depressing. Hope the missionaries there enjoy him.... haha we're not bitter at all ;))

  But this week we also went on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders and I went with Sister Burbidge! She is so awesome! She only has 4 months left in the mission, so she gave me all her wise wisdom haha. And we also had interviews with our mission president and his wife, so that was way fun! They are some of the coolest people. President Hales is very wise, so i'm excited to use his instruction in my missionary work more. Also, our branch presidency got changed this past sunday, and WOW none of us were expecting that haha but it's cool to see how God works. I feel like I'm a member of this cute little eastland branch, I've been here since February! But we get transfer calls this weekend, so i'm praying they'll let me stay :)) I seriously love it here, and all the people. People here are just so kind!!

  Anywho, thanks for all the emails and prayers and support. God only gives us trials we can get through with our Savior Jesus Christ. I KNOW He has a plan for all of us, and life is so hard, but it's not impossible. "Men are that they might have JOY". The purpose of this gospel is to bring joy unto us. I've definitely seen that in the past 9-ish months and I know I'll keep seeing it through my whole mission. I love being a missionary, and i love this gospel!!! I can't stress it enough!

love y'all mucho!

Hermana Neilson

ps. enjoy some pictures of some of the happiest moments on my mission :))

 

7.31.17

They don't know, that we know, that they know

Hola todo!!

  So nothing much happened this week, but we had a funny experience where we had this part member family each individually telling us different things that happened with their son-in-law (even though we already knew) and so it just reminded me of friends lol.

  Michael and Latosha will be getting baptized on the 2nd! President Hales is coming to interview Michael tomorrow and then he will be all ready to go! And LaTosha is seriously so excited!! AHH I love being a missionary. It's seriously the best calling. EVER. We also have exchanges this week so it will be so fun to spend 2 days in Abilene! We also have interviews with President Hales! So this will be my first time talking to him! But they're from California, so we'll get along great ))

  Anywho, thanks for all the emails and love, I love y'all so much! Keep helping missionaries, and give lots of referrals and yea! Tenga un buen semana!

con mucho amor,

Hermana Neilson

 

7.24.17

WHOAAA WE'RE HALFWAY THERE, WHOAAA LIVIN' ON A PRAYER

HOLA TODO!

  I am half way done with my mission! What! How did 9 months go that fast? I seriously LOVE being a missionary, and it makes me sad that time goes so fast out here. Also HAPPY PIONEER DAY!!!!!!! Hope y'all have great BBQ's and watch the parades :)

  This week was so great! We had an amazing lesson with our spanish investigator, Roy Lopez. He was having a hard time reading el Libro de Mormon, and so a member from the branch here ordered him a LARGE print copy! When we gave it to him he was speechless! He was so excited to finally be able to read well and understand what the book is all about! So then we watch the Restoration video with him, and he started crying during the first vision! The spirit was so THICK in that lesson! It was hard for all of us not to cry! Haha so then we just bore our testimonies on the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, and it was probably one of the most powerful lessons I've had while being out here on my mission. I love being a missionary!!!!!!!!!!!!! And then he kept asking "Why did you come to me?" and he didn't really understand what we do as missionaries, so we told him about how we leave our familias for 18 months, and we're called by the Lord and assigned to labor in Texas, and we were assigned to come to Eastland! And to teach people there, and help them come unto Christ, and he just couldn't believe it! When he said the closing prayer, he was saying "Protect them, care for their families," and he started crying again! AH. He was just so touched that missionaries came to him! and that we leave our families! This is why missionaries have to follow the spirit! So we can find these people that God has prepared. So we will be going back over this week to go over some of the commandments with him, he's honestly just SO solid. 

  I really do love what I do out here, and I know everything is because of the Lord. Yes, missions are SO hard no doubt, but they are so rewarding. Hopefully time can slow down just a bit so I can stay out here for a little while :)) But thanks for all the emails, letters, and prayers. I love y'all so much :))

con MUCHO amor,

Hermana Neilson

ps. a member gave us this mexican skulls, so we had a bit of fun with them lol

 

7.17.17

You're a Baptist, You're a Baptist, YOU'RE ALL BAPTISTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hola Todo!!!

  So this week I have come to the conclusion that everyone and their dog in Texas, are baptists! Who would have thought! Lol it has been so fun knocking doors and getting to meet so many different types of baptists! Anywho, this week was awesome! We were able to go teach a spanish family who is preparing to go to the temple! So we went over and taught them the first lesson of temple prep, and when i turned to Hermana Green to say the next point, she looked and me and shook her head, and then i was nodded my head, and then she shook her head again LOL. the family was dying. So we are practicing our spanish slowly ;))

  Also on Wednesday, Michael had his baptismal interview, and when the District Leaders drove down from ABILENE, Michael was nowhere to be found! So we went on a wild goose chase for like an HOUR just trying to find him, and we had no luck. So when we went over to his place on Friday, he explained to us that he thought it was on Thursday! So he'll HOPEFULLY be getting it tomorrow. Tasha is also being interviewed tomorrow for her baptism, and she will be baptized on the same day as Michael! (Tasha is michael's nanny) It has been so awesome being able to be apart of their conversion experience! 

  We also learned how to make quilts this past week! We got all the sisters together in the branch and made quilts for other members in the branch who live in the nursing home :) It was so fun! I seriously love this branch. It is crazy I have been here since FEBRUARY! But I could stay in this area the rest of my mission :)) i LOVE IT!!

Funny: We found a scripture that explains why missionaries gain weight (Proverbs 28:25) The weight gain is real here in Texas. Gotta love it. 

  But anywho, thanks for the emails and updates, I love y'all so much! 

con todo mi amor,

hermana Neilson

 

7.10.17

i LOVE being a missionary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOLA TODO!

  So this week was so AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!! Haha ok so we met our new mission president! President and Sister Hales are so awesome! They are from SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA! So right when President Hales met me he was like "Do you know so & so???" haha we are going to get along great ;) Also they have an instagram account for the mission, so if you'd like to receive insta pics of yours truly follow them @ HalesTLM :)) 

  Also this week we got 5 NEW investigators! We were working a lot on contacting all our potentials, and it worked! We were able to teach the Restoration so many times and bring so many more people closer to Christ! Blessings! But ok such a crazy story. So me and my former companion were at Dairy Queen one day, and we met one of the workers (Cody) and he asked a TON of questions (Like if we were nuns?) and he seemed so cool! But we forgot to get his info and address to come meet with him, so that was a bummer. But then me and Hermana Green went knocking like 6 days ago, and we were passing all these apartments, and we passed one door, and I was like "Hermana we should knock on that door" So we turned around and knocked, and it was CODY!!!! What are the chances?! Haha so we taught him the Restoration and we're meeting again with him this week! Seriously the spirit is so amazing! 

  Another cool thing that happened this week was when we were in Breckenridge! We were contacting some potentials, and we were on one side of the highway, and all of the sudden we see this man on the other side of the highway, and we both just waved and kept going, and then we turned around and chased him down, and this man was full MEXICAN! He didn't know any english and so Hermana Green and I were able to talk to him, and he referred his ENTIRE spanish family to us! Haha so we're going there on saturday to go teach them. I love when that happens :))

  But this week was seriously so awesome! We set an official date for Michael to be baptized and it's going to be on July 26th! So we are so excited for that! And we actually started teaching his nanny and she might be getting baptized that same day! So we will see :) Anywho, I hope y'all have a great week and find the tender mercies. I love all of y'all a ton. 

con muchismo amor,

Hermana Neilson

ps. enjoy this funny video of us freaking out about a spider by the car haha​