Fastest week of my whole mission!

(Note from Mom - no pictures again.  Lex broke her adapter - guess I need to get another one sent to her so she can send some pics!)

 

Hola!

I think this was the fastest week of my whole mission. I don't know why. But this week passed as fast as a Monday usually passes. I can't believe it. 

Monday we spent lots of time in the house. Cleaning, catching up on things we didn't get done in the week, and relaxing. It was really nice.

Tuesday we had our district meeting and later our Consejo de Barrio. I don't like Tuesdays because its a 15 minute ride in bus to the chapel and we have to go 2 times and we spend a lot of time waiting for the bus. We contact people but I hate that we waste so much time.

Wednesday, there was a baptism of the elderes in the church, so we invited some investigators to go watch. They said they were coming and left us waiting in the chapel. So we wasted more time...

Thursday, planning. 

Friday. The only regular work day we had this week. It was nice

Saturday there was another baptism and activity in the church. Again, said they were coming and left us waiting.

Sunday, I spoke in church. I talked about Obedience. Afterwords, many members asked me how much time i have in the mission and complimented my Spanish. It makes me feel good because I have worked really hard. But it also makes me feel bad because they always compare me with the American Elders in our ward and say that I speak better than them. (They have more time in the mission than me and I know they have worked really hard too.)

This week we have some good plans. We have an investigator that I REALLY REALLY hope gets baptized Saturday. Thats the day we have planned and he has already backed out a few times. But he is ready and I can't wait to see him get baptized. Hes super great.

Thats all the news I can think of this week. Sorry its super short. I'm a little short on time again.

Love you all!

Hermana Nielsen

Les quiero mucho!

Hola Buenas Tardes,

This week from Monday to Thursday went super super fast. But the weekend was verrrrrry long. Still not sure why. But I'm happy to be here again, not that I have anything very interesting to say. haha

Monday after writing, we had a pretty regular day. Had 2 appointments with investigators and then went home. We don't usually have a lot of time to teach Mondays, so thats kind of sad. 

Tuesday we had a Multizone Conferencia with our Presidente. It was his last here. Our new President comes this week (We're all pretty scared.) It was a great conference. I learned some good things. Also, I got the package from the Ward. Thank you very much to everyone! We are loving the treats. The card from the YW was super cute. Thanks a lot! 

Wednesday we had a district meeting. It's my favorite part of every week (thats a lie...haha) But It was good. We set goals as a district because we haven't been doing super awesome. We had a super awesome lesson with our super awesome investigators Noehmi and Claudia, then finished the day normal.

Thursday, Planeacion. We did some good snacking..i mean planning...haha 

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were super long. Lots of walking. Lots of people forgetting our appointments... :(

This week is going to be better. We're feeling pretty good and relaxed. Ready to start a new week and work really hard. I haven't really told you guys about our investigators, so thats what I'm going to do this week.

First we have J. The hnas were teaching him before I got here. But he is super awesome. His baptism is scheduled for this week, but he still says he doesn't feel ready. We're praying a lot for him and I have faith he can be baptized. He has given up smoking, prays every day, reads the Book of Mormon a lot (which is a big deal because he hates reading) goes to church every sunday and wants to pay tithing.. He is probably about 40 years old and has a lot of faith. We are working a lot with him.

Second, N. She had about 2 lessons with Hna Rs and Rd before I got here. Rs says that she has changed A LOT. She knows the Gospel is true and is already so devoted. She reads a lot from the Book of Mormon, and has already invited friends to listen to us and come to church. She has 2 kids and lives with her "esposo." She wants to get married so she can get baptized, but he is still really closed to the Church and doesn't want to get married...so thats what we are working on with her.

C. I feel like C is my daughter. Shes older than me and has kids, but she is the first Investigator that Hna Rs and I have together. haha. She is the friend that N invited. The first lesson I had with N, C came. We taught the Restoration, N bore her testimony and C has been firm ever since. She has already seen a lot of changes in her family thanks to the Gospel. Her husband doesnt want to listen yet, but comes to church with her every sunday. In fact, her whole family comes. She's great. I'm so excited for her. She has already made some big changes and is so excited to move forward and keep learning. 

R. We've only had one lesson with R, but he already has a ton of faith. In the lesson, we explained how to pray about the Book of Mormon with a real intent and sincere heart and he was like, "Thats what I havent been doing! I've prayed but I don't think I had a sincere heart. I'm gonna do it!" We are so excited to have another lesson him.

Cs. Cs is a viejito, but has a lot of faith and loves hearing the Word of God. He hasnt been able to attend church with us, but i think he will be able to progress.

Those are our investigators that are progressing really well. We have lots more, but we are still working with them. Its a lot harder for some people.

Well. I don't know what else to say...Thats pretty much it. I don't have an adaptor to send photos, but I'll see what I can do. 

Gracias a todos!

Les quiero mucho!

Hermana Nielsen 

Week of "Firsts" in Ensenada

Hola Familia y Amigos!

This week was a week of "firsts" again. Those are always fun. Sometimes its a little hard to adjust with a new companion and a new area. But not this time! My companion is super great. I'm loving this area.

Monday was my first day en Ensenada. Did a lot of unpacking, washing, shopping, and teaching. It went pretty well.

Tuesday was my first Zone Conference with my new zone. We've got some pretty high goals and things to work on. But it's possible and it'll be good. Also my first Consejo de Barrio. 

Wednesday was our first normal day of work. We had a lot of lessons, met some of the investigators and members. We also found our first new investigator as a companionship and committed her to baptism. She went to church this week with her entire familia. So we're pretty excited about that.

Thursday first planning session with my companerita. She's so great. We're working really well together. 

Friday another normal day of teaching. Except in the morning there was a soccor game and no one would answer the door...even though we could hear them and they knew we were there.... :(

Saturday a really slow day. Everyone was preparing for Fathers day and didn-t want to let us in.

Sunday everyone was drunk.... Okay not everyone...just the investigadores. We had very few lessons because everyone had family visiting and couldn't recieve us. 

Today we had an "activity" with the other hermanas. Really we did some shopping. They have some great little Segundas, which is a tienda with used clothes. But there are some really nice ones with really cheap clothes. I bought some great skirtts for 20-30 pesos each. In one of the little stores they were selling Easter candy. And you'll never guess what I found. Cadbury eggs. Needless to say, I bought some (3 pesos for a bag..please. I bought 4). And then we ate some really really good hamburgers.

Thats about all the news I have. We had a baptism scheduled for this week. But we went to our appointmetn and he wasnt there, hasnt answered his phone and didn-t come to church....so yeah...

Hope all is well with you guys. My mom keeps me updated on weddings, pregnancies, and babies. So Congrats to everyone that has had one of thos recently. I would write you all personally, but I don-t know anyones email addresses...hint hint. haha Thanks to everyone for your support and your prayers. Love you all

Hermana Nielsen

(Sorry - card reader isn't working - no pictures this week)

I'm so happy to be here!

A Cat with a mustache!

My First Change!

 

Hola todos!

I have some very good news. You are all super good pray-ers because I got changed. I am no longer in Mexicali. Right now, I'm recieving my reward for being in Mexicali. I am now serving in Ensenada!!! Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. I have an awesome companion- still not training, but I am the Senor companion. She just finished her training. We're gonna work hard and have some great success here.

Anyways, This week was a pretty normal week up until Saturday. It was full of walking, sweating, walking, sweating, eating, sweating, studying, sweating and then finally changing places. Seems like I'm exagerating on the sweating, but I'm not. It really is that bad.

Second Companion in Mexicali

I'm gonna miss my barrio a lot, but I'm super excited to be here, to start some new adventures and learn more. I feel revived. I think the sun was starting to have some bad effects. I started to feel exhausted all the time. Now I feel like I'm ready to jump into the work and find some good investigators.

Funny story. This morning, my bus was supposed to leave at 8am. One elder that was supposed to be in charge kept saying, "No, its not time to load yet. Those who are going to Tijuana always load first". Little did we know we werent going on the same bus and yeah...ours left. So we had to wait until 10 o clock in the Central until our bus left. But its okay. Because Now I'm here in Ensenada!!! Still so excited!

The bus ride directly from Mexicali to Ensenada is only about 3 and a half hours which is way better than going to tijuana with everyone and then to ensenada which is 5 hours.

I know I've already said it, but I'm so happy to be here. This week is gonna be fun. A week of "firsts." Next weeks letter will be better. Just know that I am happy, healthy, and gonna sleep well tonight.

Love you all!

Hermana Nielsen

Last Sunday

I am learning a lot of Spanish Swear Words...

No new Pictures today - so I picked an old one :)

Bueno!

Hmm.. Another super fast week. Let me try to remember what happened.

This week was más o menos in terms of lessons. But we found some great investigators, so that is awesome. We are finally building up our pool of investigators and getting people to church. 

Wednesday when we were walking to buscar an investigator, all the sudden there was a teenage boy that caught up to us to look at our name tags. He asked if we were from the Church of Jesus Christ. We said yes and he was really happy. He had chased us for 4 blocks. Said he wanted a Book of Mormon. He has been investigating religions online--all the official pages of the churches because he doesn't want to read all the stupid rumors--and has come to the conclusion that the true church is us or the Jehovah's witnesses. But he hasn't looked too much into them because he likes our church better. he started reading the Book of Mormon on the computer and the Pearl of Great Price and LOVES them! But he says it hurts his eyes to read that much on the computer, so he asked us for one. We talked to him for like an hour and he already knows a ton of stuff about the BOM, where the church is and what time. Hes great. The only problem is he is 16 and his parents are SUPER Catholic and SUPER protective. So we have to meet him in secret and he has to hide his books in his room. We're gonna see what we can do. Our God is a God of miracles. I know that Angel can be baptized. He would be a great misionero.

I'm learning a lot of Spanish swear words. So thats fun. haha JUST KIDDING!!! We have one investigator that is super great. Shes like 65 years old and is awesome, but has a swearing problem. We also hear a lot when we contact people on the street. I really don't know the swear words. Just later after we aren't talking to the people anymore, but comp tells me that they use "malas palabras"

A family from our ward went to the temple this week. Its really amazing. The people here that don't have visas have to travel 12 hours in a bus to get to the closest temple. And they go every month or two! Its a great example for me. at home, we have a temple 5 minutes away? 20 minutes away? an hour? We should go more often! 

Hmmm. Que más? Today I'm gonna go stay with the Hermana de Bella vista again because my compaion is off to Tijuana for her monthly conference.

We have transfers this week. Well Saturday they'll call and tell us whats gonna happen and then we will change Monday. If there is a change in our companionship, I may not be able to write Monday. Tuesday probably. But who knows. These transferes are completely unpredictable. Its the last transfer of our Presdient and then viene President Garcia.

Well. Sorry. I'm out of time again.

Guess thats all folks.

love you all!

Hermana Nielsen