3.5.18

Why the temple are Disneyland are connected.


Hola todo!

  Ok, so to explain my email caption. So this week we were able to take my companion's recent convert to the temple. Well the past 5 days in Clovis, it's been like above 75 degrees with no clouds in the sky! So we were planning on leaving around 10 am to drive to Lubbock (it's about 2 hours away). Well when we were getting ready I was getting dressed, and then I was like "Hey hermana do you have your recommend?" and she did, and then we got snacks for the drive there and everything and then got our bags ready. Well, it felt like I was going to Disneyland because you need your recommend (aka your disneyland pass), and snacks for the day (cause disney is too pricey) and then it was gorgeous weather outside! Just like California always is, so when i walked out the door with sister goodmansen, i was like "It feels like we're going to Disneyland today!" hahahha I miss that place. BUT the temple was GREAT! It's fun to see people go for their first time, and just seeing how excited they are. (kind of like disneyland... ok i'm done now ;)) )

   ALSO DRUM ROLLLLLLLLLLLLL, WE BEAT THE ELDERS IN THE BIKING CHALLENGE BY 30 MILES!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We ended with a total of 157.6. So they will happily purchase a snocone for each of us from bahama bucks. 

  ALSO. Ok breaking news 2.0. Our Jehovah Witness, Kristina, CAME TO CHURCH!!!! She sat in the back and a member texted us and said she was there! So after they said "amen" to the closing prayer, we rushed to the back and she said she loved it! AH so exciting!!! It was funny cause in our first lesson, she was like "don't expect me to come to your church" but she said on Sunday that she wants to bring her kids next time! WOOO. I seriously love being a missionary. 

  Ok, and this less active lady we visited yesterday, looked down at my feet, and she was like "you have big feet" (lol) and then she proceeded to tell me about a shoe store in South Dakota that i need to go to because they specialize in "big girl shoes" hahahhaha so shopping trip when i get home!!!

  Well, this is week 6, so we will be getting transfer calls on Sunday! I think I am staying in Clovis another transfer! I hope I can finish my mission here, i can't believe this is the last transfer call :(( But I'm excited to see who my last companion will be to finish me off ;)) I also start "My Plan" next week, so that's pretty weird! AH but i love being a missionary. Time goes too fast though :((((

  Ok well tengan una buena semana mis amigos!!!!!!!!!! BYEEEEEEEEE

Hermana Neilson

ps. I attached a video of me playing the organ !!!​

 

2.26.18

We get to be PERSECUTED today!


Hola todo!!!

  Well President Ballard came to Lubbock TX this week, and it was so awesome! We all got to meet him and he gave a super good talk about missionary work and how he's so proud of us! Haha something he said that was pretty cool was, "You are the best teachers in the time of the Restoration" because our biggest trial right now is social media. There's a ton of anti about the mormon church on social media and he talked about how we have to fight through that to have converts. Elder Clayton also talked about how we like Paul, can be persecuted in rough terrains. (aka like windy days, snow, rain, hail, 100 degree days) and how we should look out at the window that day and look to our companion and say "We get to be persecuted today!" hahaha

  So on that note, on Saturday we were planning on biking. Well we got dressed and looked outside and the wind was up to 28 mph !!!! And so everyone and their dog knows that wind is no fun to bike in unless it's pushing you the way you're traveling. Well it was pushing us the opposite way from where we needed to go the WHOLE way there. So finally after biking 5 miles, we got to the senior center the same time the elders got there, and when we all pulled up, my hair was covering my face and i was sweating from head to toe, and completely out of breath and i said "WE GET TO BE PERSECUTED TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" bahahaha it made the bike ride worth it. 

  We also got to go to a baptism this week! Sister Goodmansen started teaching this mom and her son, and right when i came to Clovis they had to pass them off to the elders because they were in the other ward. But we got to attend and we get to go with them to the temple this Saturday! So that will be fun :))

  Also, does anyone remember the game Heads Up? Like the iPhone App? that ellen made? Well there's this 10 year old spanish boy in our ward, and he wanted to play Heads Up LDS version, so he made flash cards and they had us (the missionaries) go first, and i knew almost every answer! It was cool because like 16 months ago i could not do that haha. 

  Anywho, thanks for everything! I love y'all mucho and pray for a lot of y'all daily!!!!!!!!!! PEACE AND BLESSINGS!!!!

hermana neilson

 

2.19.18

A week in Lubbock


HOLA TODO!

  So this week was so great! We had zone conference down in Lubbock and it was so good! I got to see a ton of my mission friends and Maddie Correlli! It's always fun when people from the "real world" come to your mission ;)) We had a lot of instructions though, and it was so weird to see the departing missionaries give their farewell testimony, because that is literally me next transfer! AH. I like started tearing up when they were giving their testimonies because i just love being a missionary so much! President and Sister Hales also put together this game during lunch, it was like a mix of 4 square and VOLLEYBALL! So of course me and my companera joined and played. 

  After that we had exchanges with the sister training leaders and I went with sister montgomery! She came out a little after me, so we had a ton of fun. We saw a lot of less actives and of course finished the exchange with my fav, bahama bucks. That place is seriously too good. A member had all 4 of us plus another companionship come over for valentines dinner, and holy cow SO MUCH FOOD. She made heart shaped pizzas, which were bigger than my face, and then she brought out CHEESECAKE, AND chocolate strawberries. I seriously was soooooo full. SO much good food though. There was a sister there who was on her first transfer in the mission, and i asked how she was doing, and she was like "I'm doing better, haven't cried too much this week" aw. training days.... 

  As for an update on our Jehovah Witness girl, things are going great! We taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ this week and the spirit was so strong! At first she was really hesitant to learn about our church and stuff, and like the first lesson she brought up a lot of doctrine things in the bible, but this lesson was just like so good! We talked a lot about finding peace through Christ, and we used the Book of Mormon a ton! It just confirms my testimony that the Book of Mormon really is the only thing that can convert us .

  Well that's all for now, I love y'all mucho and I'm so happy to be out here in Clovis NEW MEXICO!

Hermana Neilson

ps. i also put a video of our zone at zone conference doing the "hurrah for isreal" chant

 

2.12.18

I feel FRUMPY oh so FRUMPY!

HOLA TODO!

  Well to keep y'all updated in our biking adventures, we have officially biked 111.2 miles in 6 days! Wow I am so sore, but we are doing so great! 

  ALSO!!!!! PRESIDENT BALLARD IS COMING TO OUR MISSION ON THE 23RD!!!!!!!!!! We got a text from the AP's and the entire mission is getting together to hear from president ballard and elder whitney clayton! I am so excited! It will be so fun!

  This week hasn't been TOO hot with the work haha 6 of our investigators dropped us. But It's kind of nice just having people be honest with you that they're not interested, rather than they just keep leading you on (kind of like a relationship LOL). 

  BUT we had an awesome lesson yesterday! We invited a member who is preparing to go on his mission to come with us to a lesson with one of our younger investigators. Well when we got there, our investigator Christian was all in a suit and everything! so our member (Kayden) drove him over to the church and we ended up doing a church tour and we taught the plan of salvation in the chapel! It was so amazing! The spirit is just so strong in the church building, I wish we could do all our lessons there haha. 

  Also, we had a ward relief society activity. YOGA NIGHT. We realized how out of shape we are when they started doing the crow and alll those fancy things. BUT I did a bridge, I'm muy proud of myself haha. It was fun to meet and mingle with all the sisters though, I always thought of the relief society women being like older? But there's some who are like my age! and my sister's age, and so it was just fun to talk to them.

  Well that's it for this week, thanks for all the emails and letters and everything. Happy V-day to you people all in love. I LOVE Y'ALL MUCHO!!!!!!

Hermana Neilson :))

 

2.5.18

Tour De Clovis & Jehovah Witnesses


HOLA TODO!!!!

  Ok so this week was so good! We have been biking a ton!! We actually biked 60 miles in 3 days! So WOOOOO. We are SO sore. But we've actually seen a ton of miracles from being out on bikes more! 

  We have been doing this thing where "A block a day, keeps Satan away!" Aka. We pick a block to knock every single day! It's kind of a harder area here to find people, but every single time we pray before and go, we always find at least ONE potential! But this past Saturday we felt prompted to go see this man name Joe that we had previously met while knocking. So we biked over there, and we caught him just in time before he was about to leave for his trip! So we taught him the Restoration and he LOVED it. And so at the end, we both felt prompted and we invited him to be baptized! So that was such a miracle! AH i love being a missionary. 

  Ok so another cool thing that we did was we taught a Jehovah Witness!!!!!!!! I had never done that before so it was a really neat experience. She had a lot of questions, but she also learned a ton! Like for example, the priesthood!!!!! Apparently they don't really have anything like that in their church. But she wants us to come back and keep teaching her. Her main interest was in the Book of Mormon. So that was definitely a testimony builder. But it was a really good lesson :))

  But that's all my updates for now, I love you all so much and I'm so grateful to be a missionary! Ah i just love it :)) LOVE Y'ALL!!!

Hermana Neilson

303 Innsdale Ter #B

Clovis, NM 88101

ps. we were preparing for a basher

1.29.18

Transfer 12 = Staying in Clovis!

Hola todo!

  Well we got a text from President Hales on saturday saying that he was going to be in Clovis on SUNDAY, and that he would like to interview us.... WHAT. So after church we had our interviews and he told me and sister Goodmansen that we were both staying for the next transfer in Clovis :)) so that was a relief!

  This week has been so crazy but so many funny things happened. On Friday we decided that we wanted to bike that day, and so we decided to take another street on our way home. Well the street was covered in construction stuff, and when we were riding our bikes on the side walk we saw a member of our ward working on the construction, so we both turned and waved to say hi, and then BAM sand pit. So both of our bikes were like stuck, so that was kind of embarassing hahaha. And then once we get out of the sand pit we had to go back onto the side walk. Well I thought, I could probably just make it over the curb if I pedal fast enough. So my companion was behind me and i pedaled super fast and then when i got closer to the curb I realized that it was like 6 inches high! Haha so little to say i hit it dead on and my bike biffed it. But I'm ok!!!!

  Also when we were eating dinner at this member's home, they asked us what we missed from like "real life" and I said "I just miss sleeping in.... and the bachelor" and the wife looked at me and she was like "YOU WATCH THE BACHELOR TOO?!?!?" Little to say I have a new friend out here in Clovis ;)) 

  We started a challenge with the elders in the area with our bikes. Who can bike the most miles in the month of February? So we are going to sign a contract today. It's gonna be great! 

  Well that's basically all for this week. I think I am going to finish my mission in Clovis, I still can't believe I go home next transfer! But for the next 12 weeks I seriously just want to give the mission everything I have :)) Thanks for all the support and love and letters. I love y'all so much :))

con mucho amor,

Hermana Neilson