I cant imagine just stopping working

Buenas tardes!

I may have accidentally forgot that I was supposed to write the blog letter...so I may not have much time. But I will see what I can remember quickly.

It was a very very short/long, happy/sad week! Crazy how that works, but it does. Trust me.

Me with our Christmas tree.

Monday was a very rushed day. They called us Sunday night to tell us that we were going to be splitting up our Pday this week. So Monday we only had Pday until 2, then we started working. That is not enough time to wash clothes, clean the house, buy food, and write the family. But we figured it out. We were able to visit 2 investigators and an active member.

Tuesday we had our District meeting. They made me practice in front of everyone, which i hate doing, but whatever...It went pretty well. Then we ate with an hermana that cooks fantastically! It was super delicious, we visted a menos activo, found a menos activo family and then visted our investigator that is kinda progressing very slowly.

Christmas Pancakes

Wednesday we only worked until 6 pm. After that we had permission to eat with some members. Here, Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) is the big holiday. They usually start having their dinners with everyone between 10 and Midnight. But we found a couple familes that invited us to eat earlier. We ate so much food! 

Thursday, we had planning in the morning, but after that was all day PDay. It was fun. We ate even more, cleaned, hung out. Made snowmen with the fake snow Hna W's dad sent her. And made cookies. That was awesome. It was a really good day. Very quiet in the streets. Almost no one was awake in the mornings. Even the dogs were sleeping because everyone was awake until 6 am! haha

Christmas

Friday Busy day. Found some good new investgators, taught some old ones. Not too much out of the ordinary.

Saturday. Feliz Cumpleanos Derick! I thought of him a lot, but there wasnt really anything I could do to celbrate. Sorry! Just a normal day. Kinda slow. Not too much going on.

Sunday we had 6 investigators in church. Even the husband of one of our investigators came. He has said that he doesnt really believe and doesnt want to listen. But its the 2nd time he showed up on his own.Thats a good sign. We finally got a menos activo to come back to church. She felt really great and was super happy.

Sometimes we climb down and up this giant ravine to save time.. Its not really worth it..

I'm loving the Mission Life. Every time someone asks me how much time I have in the mission and I tell them 13 months, they always say that I'm almost done. But its not true. 5 months is a long time! Which is great. But even after the 5 months, the mission isnt something that just ends. Once a missionary, always a missionary. Haha. I hope the missionaries there need members to accompany them because I cant imagine just stopping working. that would make me really sad.

Thanks again for everything. Hope everyone had a Great Christmas and this week have a great New year!

Hermana Nielsen

 

 



Our Christmas Tree

 

 

 

it involves 6 elders in giant boxes

Bueno pues..

This week went insanely fast. Way faster than normal. I dont have many pictures to send this week. I'll have to see if my comp will let me borrow hers. Pretty busy week too. But it was pretty good. Lets see if I can remember. I'm really glad I have my agenda. I feel like I would never remember anything if I didnt have it written down.

Monday. In the morning we had the Practice with the missionaries. It was long and kinda frustrating, but after a while, we got things figured out on what we wanted to do. We later went to the Macroplaza to buy boots and some others stuff we needed. Super glad we bought the boots though because they helped a lot this week. Later we just had a normal day. We were only able to have one appointment though. With an investigator that is really struggling. She has a lot of personal problems and we are trying to help her out.

Tuesday we had our normal District Meeting. We ended up getting out a little early, which was cool. We had super delicious Fish Tacos. I think that is one of my favorite foods! Then visited some menos activos and investigators. We had our ward Christmas party that night. We took some investigators and ate tamales. It was a good night.

Wednesday, we refound an investigator from a while and turns out she is still interested, so we are gonna start teaching her again. Found a menos activo, taught some investigators that arent really progressing and one who is.

Thursday. We found 2 new investigators in the morning. They are pretty funny. Its an older couple that cant hear very well, so they both were talking at the same time and telling us their own versions of their lives. It was awesome. They seem pretty interested. They even came to church this week. We found another new investigator that seems skeptical but wants to listen.

the elders dont know how to spell...

Friday we had the Cena Navidena with the President. It started at 9 am. haha We had a conference first, learned some good stuff. Then at like 2 we had the dinner. We had a gift exchange, I got socks..like almost all the hermanas that were there. Then we put on our skit and the other zone sang. I cant really explain our skit. Just that it involves 6 elders in giant boxes dressed like presents that spell out CRISTO. Also a giant snowman...good luck figuring it out. :) Then we hung out for a bit talking and then we went and visted an hermana in our ward and then an investigator.

Sweet place where you can just grafiti all you want.

Saturday. We had a bunch of lessons, and did a LOT of contacting, but didnt have much success finding new people. We kind of decided this week that we needed to drop a lot of people that arent progressing and start picking up new ones. So its been a frustrating week, but good for us. 

Jesucristo es el Senor

Sunday we had 4 people come to church. It was good. We ate with a family in the ward and the elders. They gave us ham, potatos and gravy, corn, and salad. it was awesome. super delicious. They told us how our schedule is going to be this week. Today we only have pday half the day, then we work. Wednesday night we have pday after 6 so we can eat with a family. Thursday is Pday all day. ITs gonna be great.

Gotta go. Thanks for reading this. Hope you are doing well.

Love youall.

Hermana Nielsen

 

 

My week has been excelente!

Hola hola hola!

 

One day we came home and didnt have light.

Hope the week there has been fine. My week has been excelente! Its been cold and rainy here which is not always fun, but so much better than heat! We are kinda loving it. It was kind of a crazy week because we ran around getting everythign ready for some very special events this week.

Monday in the morning we got to go to the Temple site and give a devotional. Very cool experience. Then later we had 2 Noche de Hogars with different families/investigators. It was pretty successful.

Tuesday was my companions birthday. I didn't really have time to buy her anything..and she is always with me so I couldnt really give her a surprise, but I secretly arranged with some members to do something for her at the Ward activities that night. In the comida, the Hermana made her favorite food and gave us cake, and then one of her converts bought us cake too. Then at the ward activities, can you guess what we ate? Yep.. cake. We got a little sugared out. haha 

Wednesday we visited some investigators, found some menos activo families and had a pretty normal day.

Thursday was plannin in the morning. We had to empty, clean and fill the baptismal font for the elderes who had a baptism that night. It took all morning but we had fun with it. Note to all missionaries everywhere: the baptismal font should be emptied and cleaned after EVERY use. haha. But we got everything ready and good for them. The herman athat was going to feed us was running late and didnt get a chance to make stuff. So she just took us to Peter Piper Pizza instead. It was kinda great. Then we had to take 2 of our investigators to the chapel to meet with our district leader for their BAPTISM INTERVIEWS! They passed. :) They were so nervous but excited to get baptized.

Friday was crazy. It rained really hard all day! Also, We were making all the arrangements to empty, clean and refill the font again, finding the baptismal clothes and everything. But we managed to have a few lessons in the morning. We had comida with the cutest old lady in the whole world. She is so sweet. Then we had the baptism. The boiler for some reason wouldnt turn on so they had to get baptized in freezing cold water. But they were so ready. The practically jumped in there. It was so amazing. It has been a really long time since I have been able to be there for a baptism of one of my converts. It was just what I needed. It is something that reminds you why you are here. So incredible!

Then another day we had a baptism..i mean 2

Saturday was good. We had a couple lessons in the morning, then went to the house of the Hermana who was going to feed us. We knocked and knocked and called and called and she didnt answer. When we got a hold ofher she told us she forgot...so we had to go eat pizza. And on the way there...I tripped and fell down.. I don't know what it is about Tijuana that makes me fall down. Probably the really horrible roads and sidewalks. Its the 2nd time I have fallen here. Also the 2nd time in my entire mission. haha. Also the pizza we bought was horrible. So that was great. 

Sunday my knees were a little swollen and bruised, but I can still walk, so the work goes on! We hadent been able to find many new investigators this week so we prayed in the morning that Heavenly Father would help us find 4 new investigators. We went to Consejo de Barrio, then had church. Before church started a lady found us and told us that she hadnt been to church in a while and wanted us to visit her...and her 15 year old son who isnt a member. So after church and after we ate, we visited her in her house. Her son was there (1) and so was her cousin that also went to church that day but isnt a member (2). Right before we started, her nephew came in and told us he wants to learn more about the members (3) and right behind him was another cousin that also had a lot of questions (4). It was so amazing. We literally found 4 new investigators and felt so blessed. They all are super interested and I am excited to see where this goes with them. 

Thats about all I have for this week. Things are good. Love the work. Love the Gospel. Love all of you who are helping me succeed here. Thanks for everything.

Hermana Nielsen

I love this work!

Bueno!

Lets see if I can remember what happened this week. It definitely went faster than last week. I can't believe time is passing so fast. Here in my ward I am the missionary that has the most time in the mission and everyone asks me what it's like, if time has passed fast or slow, how I learned Spanish and all that fun stuff. So this week I have been thinking back on my time. I really can't believe it has already been 13 months since I was home. It feels like only a little bit ago.

I'm still really liking my area. The members are really good. They don't give us referrals when we ask at the end of every lesson, but they randomly show up to church or an activity with some friends or non member people in their family. So we have got some great new investigators that we are teaching. It has been a pretty good week.

Monday: First day of December. We were finally able to start handing out the Pass Along cards they gave us for the He is the Gift Initiative. It has been so fun to work with that. The members are so excited and the people really love the movie. We found a contact that we made a few weeks ago and showed her the video. After 10 minutes or so of internet troubles, we were ableto see it and she cried.

Tuesday was a long day and we werent able to have many lessons. Tuesdays are hard because in themorning we have our District meetings and at night we have our Coorelacion meetings. And if we eat in the elders' sector, its pretty hopeless to have many lessons because we spend a lot of time traveling. Which is what happend. But we visited a less active family and an investigator that isn't really progressing very well. 

Wednesday. Was a very good day. We were able to have a lot of lessons, we found 4 new investigators and started teaching them. One is the grandma of an active member that is curious but not SUPER interested. The other 3 are a family. On tuesday an 8 year old boy brought one of his friends to the ward activity (Here they have mutual every week but it is for the entire ward, every organization has their activities every week. Its super awesome). So he brought his friend  and introduced us. We made a cita with him thinking that it wasnt gonna lead anywhere because he is just a kid. But Wednesday we met his mom and sister and they are SUPER prepared for the gospel. Seriously, I love this family so much! They are all reading their Books of Mormon and praying and came to church yesterday! I am so excited to keep working with them. They also accepted a baptismal date for the 9 of January.

Thursday was a good day. We also were able to have a lot of lessons and even found one new investigator. I'm not sure how interested she is, but we are gonna keep teaching her and see how it goes. We have 2 investigators that are getting baptized this friday so we started visiting them every day to help them get ready. They are so awesome and so prepared. I'm so excited to see them get baptized. 

Friday was a hard day. It has been really cold and gloomy these days and Friday it kind of got to us. We got a little discouraged because all of our citas were falling through. It kinda affected our attitudes but really quickly we realized that that wasn't okay and we said a prayer and kept going. We werent able to find any new people or have many lessons, but we learned a good lesson ourselves.

Saturday. We got back up and had a better day. We taught the two who are getting baptized this week and a lot of Menos Activo families. And we found one new person to teach.

Sunday we had 5 investigators come to church! I was so excited to see them all there. SEriously the people we have found are so prepared for the gospel and are keeping their committments. I just feel really happy and encouraged this week. After church, (we get done at 3:30) we went with the family who was gonna feed us, but they didnt have the food ready. So we ended up eating at about 4:30 and couldnt even leave their house until like 6. Then we went quickly with the bishop to visit our investigators. Then there was a baptism of a little boy in our ward. The same little boy that invited his friend to church. so we took the family of investigators to the baptism and they kept asking us when they can get baptized! 

Monday. Today they asked us to go to the temple site and give a devotional to the people that work there. The missionaries (an older couple) that work there give a devotional every week and this week they asked us as special guests. We didnt get to tour the temple or anything, but just to be that close, I could feel such a special spirit. I am so grateful for my mission. I love this work!

God has blessed us so much this week. I am learning so many things. I am loving being here in Tijuana and getting to be so close to the temple and see it every day lifts my spirits so much. 

Sorry I dont always have time to write much detail in my letters. 1 hour goes so fast. It is the fastest hour of the week. But I will try harder. Thanks to everyone for your support, letters, Christmas packages...oops.. did I write that?...haha 

Thanks! Love you all!

Hermana Nielsen

Feliz Thanksgiving!

Hola Hola!

Feliz Thanksgiving! Sorry I'm a little late!

Not much time so I'll get started.

Monday. Was my first day, traveling all morning. Got here to Tijuana and got unpacked did some shopping and cleaning. Then we worked in the afternoon. On the way to a cita, I fell down and hurt my arm, so that has given me a little trouble this week. But I'm feeling a lot better now. 

Tuesday was my first district meeting. Our sector is HUGE compared to Ensenada so its a lot of walking. But the meeting was good. We are gonna work really well together in this area.

Wednesday was a normal work day. We walked a lot, contacted a lot, but didn't end up finding many people in their homes. I met some awesome investigators that we have though. So I'm pretty pumped.

Thursday was a great day. We planned, found some new investigators, ate with a great family, found some more investigators, then met the American Couple Missinaries ( I dont think thats right...how do you say that in English?) and they fed us Thanksgiving dinner. We forgot to take pictures of the food, but got one really bad picture of us aftewards. It was so great!

This couple met Tom at the Post Office when they were leaving to go to Tijuana to work on the temple almost a year ago.  They remembered talking to him, and told Hna. Nielsen that her Dad sent his love! 

Friday we found some new investigators and walked a LOT! We also spent the mornign learning about the "Christmas Initiative." I am so excited about it. Look up the video on Christmas.mormon.org. We are publicizing it a lot. If you havent heard of it, I dont know why not. Our church is awesome and is putting a lot into getting it out there.

Saturday. In the night we went to an activity that our stake had. All the hermans had prepared dances and helped us learn about the gospel in other countries. 

 

sunday we had People in church and it was awesome. I felt really horrible because on Friday they gave us flu shots which gave me the flue so i didnt really like that. but It got better really fast. 

And now we are back to today. Sorry that my letters are getting shorter and shorter. I feel like I have less time every week. But One day Ill have a lot of time and be able to write a good letter.

Everything is going well. I'm happy and safe.

Hermana Nielsen

Coming to you from Tijuana!

Bueno!

 

First of all, as many knew, this week we had tranfsers. So, just so you all know, this weeks letter is coming to you from Tijuana. Finally. haha. I got sent to the Mision Tijuana Mexico and have never been in Tijuana. But I'm here now. In an area thast called Insurgentes. It is where the temple is so I get to see it every day. Super excited. Should be a good time.

 

Now the bad news...I forgot my agenda, so we will see how much of this week I actually remember.

 

Monday. Regular Pday. We just super cleaned the house. 

 

Tuesday was the Conferencia with the Presidente. We learned a lot. It was a really good conference. We just had to travel really far to a different chapel. Then we came back to eat and had a few lessons.

 

Wednesday we had Entrevistas (Interviews) with the President. he told me a little secret about how I probably wouldnt be in Alisos much longer. But he lead me to believe I would still be in Ensenada. haha. We ended up waiting a long time for the food and didnt get to have too many lessons.

 

Thursday was planning. Its really hard when you know you arent gonna be there for the week you are planning for. But it was good. We planned really well to leave the area good for whoever was gonna be there.

 

Friday we had a good day. Lots of lessons. It rained really hard on us. I have pictures but forgot my camera....sorry. We ate dinner that night with M and C at N's hot dog stand to have one last fun day together. It was really fun.

 

Saturday.....I can't remember saturday. Sorry. Oh wait! I remember that we had a lesson with a golden investigator. It was awesome. And then later that night they called to tell us about chagnes

Sunday O, the golden, came to church. But no one else...Said some goodbyes...sad day. Said goodbye to N...the hardest thing ever.. and went home to pack.

 

Today I had to be in the central at 6 am. got here to Tijuana at like 9. Cleaned, Unpacked, Shopped. And now here we are. 

 

Thats my week. Hope everyone is doing well. Loveyou lots

 

Hermana Nielsen

I am ready for whatever the Lord has in store for me.

Hola Todos Mis Amados Amigos,

So this week was kinda long. I'm really grateful for planners because I always get here and forget what happened this week. 

Monday we went and watched the Joseph Smith Movie with our favorite investigator. It was her birthday so we also ate brownies that we made. She really liked the movie and the brownies. We also made her a cute little gift that she loved.

Tuesday at about 3 in the morning I woke up really sick and didnt sleep that night. I called the mission doctors at 8 in the morning and they told me what pills to take. But they didnt do anything so I ended up going to the doctor..haha They injected me and that still didn-t help. But I finally started feeling better around 5 that evening and was able to sleep.

Wednesday we went back to work. I felt weak and tired, but we were able to work a little bit and have some good lessons.

Thursday we had Planning in the morning and intercambios at night. Hermana R came here to work with me and Hna A went to her sector. We were able to have 2 lessons after she got here and she helped me with some stuff.

Friday I worked all day with Hermana R. She Helped me contact and stuff better but also offended 2 of my investigators in the lessons and one of them didnt come to church this week....So thats frustrating...

Saturday we caught up a little bit. We were able to have more lessons and contact a few more people. But we werent able to find any new investigators. We are supposed to find at least 12 every week and this week was frustrating because we had only found 1.

Sunday. I had to speak in Church. It wasn't a disaster. I heard it was pretty good but I don't really remember. I can't believe I still get so nervous about speaking in church after 12 and a half months of having to speak in front of people..haha No investigators came to church. That was rough. We walked around a lot and everyone forgot our citas. We ended up a little discouraged but this week we feel better and are ready to work.

It may end up being our last week together. Transfers are next week. We are trying to think about what it is going to be like to have companions that arent american again. haha It'll be good whatever happens. I am ready to leave Ensenada though. 6 months is a long time to be in one place. I will miss my companion. But I am ready for whatever the Lord has in store for me. 

These days the water has been crazy. One day we have water to shower, one day no. One day Si, one day No. But we have had water for the last 3 days and we are surprised every day we wake up and have water or every night when we come home and still have it. Maybe the have fixed the problem or found another water source.. I hope os.

PS. For my Talk I used an article from the Liahona in January 2012 that I suggest that everyone read. It is called....actually I dont know in english. But it is about a man who works in Machu Picchu. It is about not losing our excitment for the gospel.

Thats pretty much all I can think of. No picturse because the computers in this internet cafe have stopped recognizing my flashdrive. Maybe next week. 

Gotta go. Love you all.

Hermana Nielsen

We celebrated with hot dogs!

Buenas tardes!

It looks like noches these days because it gets dark super fast. But it's not yet! haha

Well. How was this week? Pretty good. We worked hard and I feel good. 

Last Monday. We went to the segundas looking for a new bag for me. I found one but later discovered I hate it... Good thing it was only 20 pesos..less than 2 dollars.

 

Tuesday. we had a fun lesson with a couple of less active kids. Their mom doesn't really want to listen right now, but they love to read the book of Mormon with us, so that's fun. They're cute. We took pictures, but the computer is freaking out and wont recognize my card so I can't send them. 

Wednesday. My companion completed 9 months in the mission. Half! Yay. We celebrated a little in the night and were able to have some good lessons that day. We recontacted a menos activo that we haven't been able to see for a while and she came to church this week!

Thursday was my 1 year anniversary! I seriously cant believe its already been one year. Time is going by so fast. Its crazy. We celebrated with hot dogs. haha And took lots of pictures...but...can't send them..

Friday. We found a new investigator and started teaching him lesson 1. We got to know him a bit and he used to live in the united states. When I asked him what he worked in in the US, he told me Smuggling haha. Yeah. Its the first person I've taught that has openly admitted to being a drug dealer. But he doesn't anymore and is actually wanting to learn and change. Pretty cool.

Saturday Another new investigator...kinda crazy, but has potential. Not much to report. Its started getting cold enough at night that I bought another small blanket to go on my bed. 

Sunday we only had 1 investigator come to church but we found 2 new ones after church. This week should be a good week getting to know them all better and helping them understand that gospel. Its been a good week.

Its getting colder which I love. My hair is getting longer which I also love. I started using this magic shampoo with chili. We are working hard and loving the work.

See my hair is getting longer -
(Picture forwarded from Hna. A))

Thanks for everything. Love you all.

Hermana Nielsen

Hey There!

Hey there!

Alright. Lets see if I can remember what happened this week. 

 

Monday was just a regular P.Day. Just washed some clothes, cleaned the house, ate some pozole with an investigator. You know, the usual. We contacted a woman that was selling clothes and may have accidentally bought one or two things...We had an awesome lessons with an investigator that is progressing really super well. Love her already!

 

New Clothes



Same Clothes

 

Tuesday. We worked a normal day. Which was great. We had a lot of lessons. But in the middle of our last lesson, I got a headache so bad that I felt sick and had to go home and lay down. We ended up planning that night in the dark. But after sleeping it went away and I have been fine since. Super weird.

Wednesday. We had our district meeting then worked like normal. It was a long, good day. Still havent been able to find many new investigators though. Had contact with a menos activo that we haven't been able to see in a while. she is doing well. just can't come because of health.

 

Before

Thursday. Planning. Working. Ward Council. Then we passed by an investigators house with the elders so they could give her a blessing. Contacted another menos activo.

After

Friday! Halloween! There was no one in the street in the morning. We didn't have many lessons this day. But we did get to eat with our favorite investigator, N. haha she is basically a member. And they told us to be in the house by 6. So we were. We just cleaned, painted pumpkins, and watched Mormon messages on a disc that someone gave my companion.

Saturday we had a lot of lessons but none that we planned. everything fell through. Still no nuevos...

Sunday we ate something weird with an hermana and ended up not feeling super good. but we worked anyway. haha

Today was just a day to relax. We dont have water so can't wash the clothes or clean the house very well. we will have to do that tomorrow when the water comes back.

I Taught Him to read

Well. I'm out of time. We are doing well here. Its starting to get cold, even rained a few days. We are having water problems again, but its not a big deal. Love you all. Thanks for everything

Hermana Nielsen

New investigators, lots of contacting, really busy.

Hey everyone! Look who finally decided to write a blog letter.

Sorry to anyone who actually reads this. Its been a crazy few weeks. All weeks are crazy here in the mission, but these last few have been extra insane.

Guess we are gonna do a super quick run down of the last 2 weeks. 

Lunes October 13 was Hermana H's Birthday. We went to celebrate with my convert C and an Hermana from the ward, M. Halfway through the meal, Hna H didnt feel very well and we ended up going home to rest. We visited E, our investigator and that was all we could do that day. 

Martes 14 Was a good day except we had to climb a mountain to go eat with a member. It was quite the adventure. But we ate with all 6 of the missionaries in our ward. With the recent changes, we are now 5 from  EEUU and 1 from Bolivia. haha

Miercoles 15. Conference with the President. Halfway through Hna H got a migraine and we ended up resting most of that day too because it just wouldnt go away. I put up blankets on the windows and now our house gets REALLY dark at night.

Jueves 16. Planeacion. She got sick again. Pobrecita. we found 2 new investigators and visited some old ones. 

Viernes 17. Conferencia de Zona. Migrain but we still were able to work. 

Sabado 18 We didnt work that much. Poor thing. And the silly doctors here don't do anything. Just give her another pill that doesn't work..

Domingo 19 A few lessons. She felt better. 

Lunes 20 During our lesson with an investigator, Hna Garcia (presidentes wife) called us and said we had to be in Tijuana ya! So we ran home and packed all her stuff and went to the Central. We ended up having to wait until 7 to leave, so we got to Tijuana at 9. The president came to pick us up and we stayed the night with a Matrimonio of missionaries... I don´t know what they are called in english..sorry.

Martes 21. Met my new companion Hermana Alexander. She is from Payson Utah, has 8 months in the mission, is super funny, and a good missionary. We have had fun. We went back to the central, got there at 11:10 and were told that we would have to wait for the 1 o clock bus. We ate and walked around and at 12:55, the bus got there. We were getting ready to load when 2 women from immigration something or other came and demanded our papers. I ended up having to call the offices because we dont carry our stuff with us. They gave her what she was looking for while one of them rudely asked me questions about where exactly we live and what exactly we do here. But we ended up missing the bus and had to wait until 3 to leave...

Miercoles 22. Was a good day...ah running out of time..gotta go faster...we went to a baptism and took our investigator to help her feel better about her own baptism that is coming up.

Thursday 23. Lots of lessons.. good day. 

Viernes 24 New investigators, lots of contacting, really busy.

Sabado 25 good day. lots of lessons.

Sunday 26 Everyone called me Hermana H by accident.. not everyone, just the bishop and a new convert...mine and Hna R's convert...its fine. I'm not bitter...

Today we ate with an investigator..it was fun. Went to walmart. It was hot. Nothing much news.

Love you all. Have a great week.

Hermana Nielsen

Spockroach!

To prove my hair is still long.

Dear Everyone,

Hows it going? good? good.

Things here are going well. This week we found some great new investigators that accepted baptismal dates. Which means that in the transfers that are coming this week, I will for sure be leaving. haha That's how it always works.

Monday, We had water! Also we made some delicious red velvet cake to share with our investigator that has been sick.

Tuesday No water. we had our district meeting. When we went to eat, we had to wait about a million years for the sister who was giving us food. So we lost a LOT of time that we needed to find and teach. We taught one of our new investigators, who readily accepted a baptism date and is super excited to read the Book of Mormon

Wednesday Water! We spent a lot of time with a member who needs a lot of help right now. It wasn't a super eventful day. Just working walking and sweating. 

Thursday. The weirdest thing happened. The water went in the morning and came back in the afternoon! It never comes back the same day. We celebrated. We like to celebrate. This day we just had planning, and consejo and some lessons. We also discovered the Spockroach. Its a mix of a spider and cockroach. Kinda the most disgusting thing I've ever seen

Friday! WATER! Still.... Also some fun lessons, New investigators, menos activos... Good day.

Saturday! WATER!!! STILL" This is a miracle. We haven't had 3 straight days of water in over a month. Also the Conference. So it was an awesome day. Loved the second session. I loved them all, but the 2nd session I loved a lot.

What is it?

 

Sunday. WATER!!! But only in the morning. It went when we were getting ready to leave the house. BUT! It came back at night.. Yeah. 

Behind us is where our ship was docked when I came to Ensenada with my
 parents after my Senior year of High School.

Monday. Today. WATER! This is the greatest thing ever. I love having water in the house. It makes bathing, cleaning, and doing the dishes so much easier. You should all appreciate more your water. Also, today we went to Centro and walked around. Bought some Souveniers and took pictures. Just a fun last monday in Ensenada. I think that with these transfers coming up, I'll be leaving. But who knows.

Other news....Its gonna rain today..That's about all. 

Bye! Love you all!

Hermana Nielsen

 

 

Bueno!

Bueno!

I Cut My Hair!

Hola everyone. Hope everyone is going awesome. Don't have much time so here we go really super fast. 

Last Monday: did P day in reverse again. Started working during the day and finished with Pday at night. It was fun and a good thing we did that because we didn't have water in the house to wash the clothes until like 6.

Tuesday Just a regular work day. Really busy and lots of walking.

Intercambrios

Wednesday one of our really secure investigators that was going to get baptized told us she is moving to Tijuana.... :( so we passed the reference and she packed up and left. We also met a new investigator named R. He is the boyfriend of a less active member and seems to be really interested. We'll see how things go with him.

Thursday A, our investigator who was going to get baptized on Saturday got a job offer in San Felipe, packed up and left that same day... 2 times in one week. 4 times with the same companion that that has happened. We were tempted to get discouraged, but we aren't. We are going to keep working.

Friday found a new investigator when we offered to help her carry grocery bags to her house. She accepted then invited us in for some water. We accepted and started teaching her. She's kinda awesome. She gave us 2 other references after we finished the lesson.

Sometimes my Comp is lazy...

Saturday it was a regular day in the morning. The hermana that we ate with told us to get there at 2:30. She arrived at 2:40 and started cooking. We thought she would whip something up really fast..we were wrong. At 4 o clock she was still cooking ceviche and we told her we had to go pick up investigators to go to the Womens conference. So she gave us some even though it wasn't all the way done. I don't even like ceviche that much anyways. So we quickly ate 3 tostadas of it and she took us hoome to change. That was super frustrating..we missed out on 3 lessons that day waiting for her.

Sunday we ran around all morning making calls, getting rides and picking up investigators. But we ended up with 4 of them at church. So that was awesome. We have one investigator that we have been teaching for over a month now and she finally went and she cried! She liked it. I'm so happy.

Anyways thats aboout all. We sleep with blankets at night now because its starting to cool down. I kinda love it. We are working hard. Loving the people, loving the work.

Love you all.Thanks for everything!

Hermana Nielsen

OK - I didn't really Cut my hair - My Comp did this cute style for me
 and when I took it out it was really curly!

Working at working at working....

Dearest familia.

I hope all is well. This week has been super eventful.

Monday was normal. Just working at working at working. Right after finishing our last load of laundry, our water got cut off. (dont get worried. that happens here in ensenada....a lot) So we didnt get to store water in our washer like we normally do. we lived off what we have stored in bottles. 

Tuesday. The water came back! We had our normal district meeting, worked a little then went back to the capilla to have Intercambios. 

Wednesday. No water. I worked with Hermana Torres, we found a new investigator, we had a lot of fun. We talked in English. We ate ice cream. Then we changed back companions. Then we went to our ward party for the Mexican Independence day. Super super fun! The elders are crazy. We heard a lot of AMerican music and it was really hard to not sing or dance. We are totally coming back next year to be able to party with these people because it was a great Fiesta!

Thursday Planning day. No water. My companion completed the mitad!!! I mean half of her mission! Also, an investigators daughter who has been missing for 10 months came back! She was so happy.

Friday. No water. Normal day.

Saturday. No water. We left at 8 in the morning to help an investigator clean her house and kill bugs and fumigate. We promised to help until she was done because we thought it would be 3 hours...we finished and went home at 8 pm....longest day ever.

Sunday. WATER!!!!! I spoke in church. >It was a disaster. Got super nervouse and i dont know why because i never get nervous...

Today No water. We washed clothes in a members house, ate an all american breakfast with a member. and now here we are.

Its starting to get cold. I'm so excited. No we didnt get any rain from the storms. We are all pretty upset. Its part of the reason we dont have water...because its not raining and there is nothing to give us.. Sorry it was rushed today. I had a lot of other stuff i was doing during this time.

Love you all

Hermana Nielsen

Pictures with no explanations:

 

 

Sorry, Sorry, Sorry! Blame my dad!

Last Weeks Awesome Walmart Purchase!

I may have procrastinated a little and now don't have a ton of time to write... Sorry!

Monday work day after writing. 

Tuesday district meeting, visited a menos activo and started teaching her friend. He's kind of awesome. I can already picture his baptism and that he will be working with the Young Men. It'll be great. Can't wait. We visited an investigator and started teaching her friend too that has rejected us more than 3 times. Now she's ready. It's so awesome to see people make changes in their lives.

Wednesday. We visited a new member family that is struggling to be able to buy food. The mom has diabetes and hasn't been able to buy her test strips so she never knows how much insulin to give herself. She has been struggling a lot. But this week they got help and are doing a LOT better.

Thursday. We had a conference with Elder Valenzuela. Super good. Super long. Super hot.

Elder Valenzuela from the area 70 came to speak to us

Friday. Weekly planning. Super good. Super long. Super hot. haha Then we had some good lessons with investigators and menos activos.

Saturday. A lot of walking. A lot of sweating. Not a lot of teaching. :(

Sunday. 2 Investigators came to church...but we had 8 that said they were going to...so thats kinda frustrating. But it's okay!

This week has been incredibly hot. We almost thought we were going to get rain because it was cloudy but we didn't get anytyhing. It is super super muggy and humid. Its really hard to be outside but even worse to be inside peoples houses in the middle of the day. They keep telling us its going to cool ldown soon..we'll see i guess.

Sorry sorry sorry times a million! Blame my dad! I talked to him a lot and forgot to write the blog letter. Love you all anways. Still waiting for some of you to write me...You know who you are...

Hermana Nielsen

Good Things are happening.

  

Dearest friends and family,

I feel really bad because I read Jeff's emails and they are so exciting and full of details. And then I reread mine and feel bad for you guys that are reading. I'm not very good at writing great stories. Good things are happening. I promise; I'm just a bad writer. 

Anyways...here we go.

Monday. We just had one lesson with an investigator named Evangelina. She is working really hard to quit smoking so we visit her every day. She has progressed a lot. I love working with her.

Tuesday was our District meeting. The first meeting with the new DL. he was really nervous because it is his first time being a DL, but he did well. We ate in the capilla because the hermana brought us the comida. She had to leave her house and wasn-t going to be able to recieve us. So we ate cold spagetti and who knows what kind of meat in the baptismal room

Wednesday...normal day. Except we had to go to the bank to pay the rent. So that was an adventure. I taught Hna hatch how to do that. It's not hard. Just wastes time because the bank is a little lejos.

Goofing around with Hna Hatch

Thursday we had our planning for like 8 hours...but not really. Only 3...It just feels like a long time. Then we had some good lessons with Menos activos and investigadores. We had Ward Council..which wasn't super productive. It's kinda annoying when you wait for the bus 20 minutes, ride the bus 20 minutes and sit in Ward council 20 minutes and then they tell you "Well.. that's all for the missionaries. You can go back to work.." But it's alright. More time for lessons.

Friday. One of the worst days I've had for a while. We had 10 lessons planned for the day and were able to have 5. We walked a lot.. a lot of people forgot our appointments. A lot of people we planned on seeing were busy. It was really hard. And Hna Hatch feels like she still doesn't know the area very well..so can-t really help with ideas when we run out of plans. It was a really frustrating day.

That's a 10 if you can't tell.

Mac and Cheese and Chicken Nuggets

Celebratory Cinnamon Roll 

Saturday. Saturday was good. We worked a lot with MA (less actives) and Miembros. We didn't find very many new investigators this week. I also completed 10 months on Saturday. So that was fun. We celebrated Sunday night though. With mac n cheese, chicken nuggets, and cinamon rolls...good times. And we took lots of pictures...We found some cool new settings on the cameras and played with them for a while.

Sunday. Sunday was HOT!!!! The weather was supposed to start cooling down and raining. Instead it got cloudy, muggy, and REALLY REALLY HOT! Saturday, we had 6 people very firmly committed to coming to church.. Sunday we had 1. That's one really hard thing about being a missionary. Its hard not to get really discouraged when your investigators are following through on their commitments. And thats one really hard thing about Mexico..No one follows through...That's not racist. Its something they say all the time.

Today we went to walmart to buy rain boots because they keep telling us its gonna rain...we got distracted and bought other stuff. (pictures to come next week.... ;) ) The rainboots were really expensive. Looks like we are gonna have wet feet. Should be fun. 

Things are going well. I'm working hard with Hna hatch. We are working on her Spanish a lot. Having an American Companion is awesome. The only hard thing is focusing on the work. Because if something reminds you of a song or a movie, you really want to quote it because she can understand. We are working hard, but struggling a little with the "focus" thing. Hmm..what else? Happy birthday to my awesome missionary brother! So proud of him. He is doing so awesome. Can't believe he has already been gone 1 month!

Guess that's all. Love you all!

Hermana Nielsen