John 8:12

The Hermana's in our zone!

This was quite an exciting week! Thanksgiving was awesome! We got to have breakfast as a zone with the Wanlass family! After that our zone played 2-hand-touch football, which was so fun. We had a potluck lunch with a smaller group of missionaries from the zone. We ended up having 2 dinners Thursday evening! Our first dinner was with the Dominguez family, and our second dinner was with the Coto's! So no worries... I definitely ate well on Thanksgiving!

So, transfers... I had always heard about them, but somehow I never thought it would actually happen to me. Turns out that for at least the next transfer I will be serving in Fallon! Apparently Fallon was hermana Gatten's favorite area, and everyone keeps telling me how amazing it is. I will only be about an hour away, so the drive won't be too bad. I am excited for this opportunity to go serve in another part of the Lord's vineyard and to meet new investigators and members. At the same time though, I am heartbroken to be leaving the Sierra Branch... I wasn't really expecting to leave this transfer, so it's been hard saying goodbye to all the members and investigators that I love SO MUCH.

If any of you haven't seen the new Christmas video yet, you need to see it!!! It is such an inspiring video! You can find it on mormon.org(mormon.org/spa to find it in Spanish). Share it with all of your friends, share it on social media, and LIGHT THE WORLD!  I would like to encourage all of you to take the initiative and "Light the world in 25 ways, in 25 days," starting in December. This is a great, non-threatening way for everyone to share the gospel with their friends. 

I am so excited for this holiday season, and the opportunity that we all have to think a little more about our savior. Sé que Maria dio a luz a Jesucristo, para que nosotros podamos dar luz al mundo! (Haha it's a pun, but it only works in Spanish...)

-- Hermana Nielsen

My new address:

Hermana Kayci Nielsen

675 East Virginia Street

Fallon, NV 89406

Pictures:

-Turkey breakfast!

-Yes, those are nursery chairs

-I'm going to miss my companion!!!

 -"Squad Goals" (You can always tell the missionary cars because they all have the exact same bike rack)

-zone football

Tu Me Has Dado Muchas Bendiciones Dios!

This week Hermana Gatten and I got to host a "mini missionary" for a day! Her name was Aria, and it was so fun having her! She didn't have a lot of experience with Spanish, but she translated her testimony during studies and practiced reading the scriptures so that she could participate in the lessons! I wish that I would have done something like that before my mission, because I had no idea what mission life was really like until I got here!

We have seen so many miracles lately! We got a referral to go with the elders to give a blessing, and now Paola seems like a solid new investigator! We also had a member bring their friend Blanca to a branch activity Saturday night, and now we are going to go teach her family this week!! Members are the best. Before I came on my mission everyone told me how important members are, and I now have a personal testimony of member missionary work. There are some things that full-time missionaries just can't do. We can't give people rides to church, and we can't be effective fellowshippers. So: invite your friends to activities!!!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for:

-Jesus Christ

-My family that takes care of me from thousands of miles away and sends me warm clothes

-The opportunity I have to be a missionary!

-Random acts of service (giving them and receiving them!)

-Friends who write me letters

-My wonderful companion

-My wonderful companion's laugh

-Our new branch mission leader

-Members who feed us the most delicious food in the whole world

-All my investigators

-(almost) knowing Spanish

-Cold weather

-My feet don't hurt too bad even though we walk a ton and I haven't worn Chacos in 5 months

I could go on, because I have so many things to be thankful for, but I will just leave my testimony of gratitude: the more thankful we are, the more Christ-like we will be!

Scripture of the week: 3 Nephi 19:24. We can learn so much from this example of prayer. In particular, I am trying to work on having my prayers be guided by the spirit. I know that as we have the spirit with us, we can have more sincere prayers and we can be "filled with desire"! 

-- Hermana Nielsen

Pictures:

-On exchanges, eating salad in the car between appointments!

-I love refraction!

-Aria, our "mini missionary"

Alma 62:41

One cool thing about this week was all the opportunities that we found to do random acts of service! Most of the time people don't let us serve them (don't be like that!) but this week we were able to help people carry groceries inside (on two separate occasions!), wash and put away dishes, take out trash, and help Evelyn and Roberto with their wedding invitations! I love service, especially unplanned service!

Fun facts about how different my brain is after only a couple months on a mission:

-My stress dreams now are about when I get separated from my companion

-Numbers = Scripture references. For example, when I look at the clock and it is 2:25, my first thought is Adan cayo' para que los hombres existiesen, y existen los hombres para que tengan gozo!

-When I hear instrumental hymns, the lyrics that pop into my head are in Spanish!

-I get nervous when I watch other cars back up without someone standing behind them...

My favorite part of the week: at the end of the last transfer, Hermana Martinez and I met this adorable little family. The couple is Alejandro and Celia, and they have the cutest little 4-year-old son I have ever met in my entire life. We fell in love with this family. Hermana Gatten and I were able to see them a couple times, but they told us that they were happy to talk to us but they didn't want to change religions. That was a hard experience. However, Hermana Gatten and I felt we shouldn't drop them completely. Last Monday evening, one of our lessons fell through and I felt impressed to go see them again. We showed up and Alejandro was there, so we talked to him for a moment, and then he told me: "Pienso que conoces mi madre," (I think you know my mom). I asked what his mom's name was, and he said Leonor... It took me a second, but then I realized that his mom is one of the women I met on the plane ride here from the CCM! Leonor (his mom) and Silvia (his sister) came to visit their other sister, Monica, when we were coming from Mexico. They both accepted a Book of Mormon, but Hermana Martinez and I were never able to find them before they went back to Mexico. I never thought I would see them or hear from them again, but when I found out that Alejandro was part of their family my mind was blown. The best part is that Alejandro told us that they are going to be visiting for Christmas, so we should be able to see them again! What a cool miracle, I am still in shock!

My scripture of the week is Alma 62:41. I love this striking example in the Book of Mormon about how who we become is completely subject to our agency. We can talk about nature and nurture all day long, but ultimately, we have been given the ability to choose everything. We choose which parts of our nature to keep, and which to change. We cannot always choose what happens around us, but we can choose how to respond to it. As we make these choices we change and become, and this process is made possible through the atonement of Jesus Christ. 

Les quiero, que tenga una buena semana!

-- Hermana Nielsen

-When doing paperwork in the car the evening after daylight savings

-Graciela loves to make us "paint our lips" (pintarse los labios)

Be thou like unto Abish

This has been a good week, trabajando duro! Lots of walking, talking and teaching. Hermana Gatten and I are trying to be better at asking for referrals from everyone, so when we get home every night we have to do 10 push-ups for every time we didn't ask someone for a referral! 

Fun Spanish fact: "every week" is "cada ocho dias" (every eight days) because they count today, plus the next seven days. Apparently that only applies to weeks though, because "three days ago" is still "tres dias atras."

I went on two exchanges this week! On Tuesday I went to Tahoe with Hermana Monroe, and on Friday I went to Fallon for the first time with Hermana Hale! They are definitely two very different places. Tahoe is starting to get really cold already. I'm glad I'm not serving there at the moment! Fallon is beautiful, and I was able to meet lots of cool members and investigators! It's always good to return to my own area though, I missed my own investigators!

I would like to invite everyone to read Alma chapter 19, focusing on the story of Abish! I love this chapter, especially as a missionary. I want every member to be like Abish, looking for opportunities to share their testimonies. I love applying this chapter to the missionary life, and seeing how members, missionaries, and recent converts can work together for the salvation of many souls. 

-- Hermana Nielsen

-Snow in Tahoe!

-Fallon sunset

-My companion is so funny. We left this on the elders' car.