FAMILY~!

I'm glad the basement didn't flood. A few people have asked how the fam's been doing, so I told them to my knowledge the basement was okay. ¯\[°_O]/¯ But I'm glad that everything's intact. That would be such a mess, otherwise. (And yay, the temple didn't drown! *brick'd*)

PLAYOFFS! HAWKEY! *flail* who else made it? I saw Craig asked if the Canuckleheads made it. I got a letter that said the Leafs might have made it for the first time in a while, also- Did they make it, Don!? Also, are the hawks a 1seed like I'm assuming? so many questions, so little time! Did the Jackets make it too? I heard they were oddly close too O__O

See, you already know more than I do about the Pakistani/Hindu culture. Be sure to share with me anything more fun you find out :D

It's funny how sometimes we impress ourselves. I did they same sort of thing in my own musical life with the tenor clef. See Matt? The fundamentals are what help us out when panic happens! (stay calm, stay calm... on second thought, PANIC!) So yes, that's the benefit. Also dictation skillz. That's what helps too. :)

Lame. You'd think you'd be able to pick what to get. Maybe you can just uproot it and stick another one in there like you did the Oak. (Mwahaha?)

Yum, asparagus. There's lots here. I think about you when we have it with dinner sometimes. Are far as chilly across the country, I don't think California got the memo. Which is okay with me!

If you'd like my help with the song, maybe you could send me a copy of the words for part of their world (so I can remember the whole song ^^; ) and a list of things you'd need to include in a 72 hour kit. We have a few from the mission office, but I think those are absolute minimal. But I'll ponder on it and see what we can come up with :) 

This week was good! We had a lot of things happen that didn't allow us to get everything done that we wanted, but considering all the setbacks and whatnot it was a good week. We got to have an extra training meeting with President Weston down in Antelope (2 hours away *brick'd*) and we practiced extending baptismal commitments. President promised us that if we would extend our faith and ask everyone that we teach to be baptized every time we meet with them, more miracles would happen and more growth would be seen. As a companionship we decided that was something that we need to work on, so this week we're going to ask pretty much everyone to be baptized :) We are going to put our faith to the test! So pray for us that we'll be able to keep with it and see miracles as we do that this week.

I wanted to ask, also- it's hard for us to get a copy of the Ensign, although they are available. (It's harder for us to get them cos we're further from the mission office.) Do you think you could possibly send me a copy? :)

And I know you said you'd gotten the CDs- are they on their way? I keep looking for it, but nothing yet.

Thanks for all you do! I love you all bunches! Be great, stay happy, and remember the Lord :)

LOVELOVELOVE,

Sister Nelson

April 2013

DEAREST FAMILY~ <3 <3 <3

I'm doing awesome! We are quite busy, but it's a good thing. Best thing. :3 Training is okay, it's still kind of weird to be... in charge... sorta. It's gotta be both of us, but I know the area better so we're working on getting it to 50/50. It's going well so far! I need to stop talking so much in lessons (wat) but it's goin'. Getting better every day. :) D'aw, isn't President Weston the best? I'm so happy he's my mission president. Is it weird to be proud of that sort of thing? :3

Bzzz Boink. Haha! 

NOT THE ASH TREE! T_________T whatever it is I hope it grows fast. That Ash was the prettiest thing... do you get to pick, or is the subdivision doing that? ¬_¬

Boo, I forgot John and Kathy were moving. But cooly! new neighbors! And holy cow, Indian food is SOOO GOOOD. I don't know much about them either - do they not like beef? I feel like Sister Brown would know a lot, she went over there for two weeks once. 

G'job, Matt! I knew you wouldn't escape from DPYSO :D I like that Kim travels there now too, haha. Good to know there's more Oswego bassoons in the works though :) I'm proud of my lil' brother! I think he'll be great. What did he do that impressed the other horns? We pick up fast in our family :)

*reading inbetween the lines* Did our basement flood?! D: get a sump pump in there! (that's for you, lyra!)

GO BLACKHAWKS~! *pompoms like mad*

@Bro Hawe I don't know that he knows either. All the stuff in there isn't online tho, so it's not something they can research cos they need to physically get the stuff. Y'know. Hoops. 

OKAY, so this week was sweet! Firstly we had 5 less-active members to sacrament this week - yayness! One of them, Cindy, is a super sweet lady with a tough background, but she loves the church and recently changed her whole life schedule so she could come to church more regularly :) She's fabulous n_n the others that were of particular excitement were the HAMNERS! (great name, huh?) omg we were SO excited! He got baptized at the end of 2011, but then could go much after that cos his prosthesis had issues. This week they found pants to fit him (cos without moving around, his waist got bigger :) and they CAME! we've been trying to get them to church for like a year, so that was a feel good end to our week. HOORAY!

Other particular excitement was we got a super sweet referral yesterday! Get this. We got a phone call from a man in one of the other wards, talk about how his mom was living in one of the assisted living homes in our area up here. Well, he said that he talked to this lady that was friends with him mom, and they got to talking about the church. She likes Mormons  and everything's she heard about the church, and- I love this - he said to her, "Shirley, why aren't you a Mormon?" and she said, "Well, I would if someone would ask me!" Sounds like something out of a storybook, wouldn't you agree?? So we're going to go start teaching her soon hopefully. And despite the fact that she lives in an assisted living, this member said she's sharp as a tack but can't get around very well, so that's why she's there. :) Miracles are everywhere! We shouldn't be afraid to share our testimony with ANYONE! Even short little testimonies. God is moving things forward, full-force, and we need to help out as best we can! <3

That's all for this week. Thanks for being awesome! And your letters and prayers- they mean SO MUCH! :3

LOVELOVELOVE,

Sister Nelson

With Sister Tuttle April 2013

Hellloooooo family! :D

Eek, I'm sorry to hear about the hives :( Good thing you're persistent! (Also, I wasn't aware there was a "mean" hive. What made them mean? Did they sting you a lot? I suppose it would make sense they would have personalities, but hey.) Sorry about the snow, too. But you do what you can. 

Yes, I am still in Paradise with Sister Smith! Thank goodness I'm not opening a new area and training also- THAT would be madness. *flail*

The Birds are moving too?? What is this? T_T

Welp, an item of business to start: I still have to ask to see if it would be possible, but would anyone be upset if I called on Father's day instead of Mother's day? Let me know which would be okay.

Also, a comment- if a Duane Hawe emails you, it's cos I'm from Chicago and he has some family history research that needs to be done in Chicago. :D So that might come through and you might have another project that needs your help. ALSO, I can't remember if I told you about Sis. Wyler, but she's fascinated with family history and we talked about getting some things underway. So if you need help, she's willing to go see what she can help you find. Lemme know if you'd like her contact stuff lol. (I told her about something vaguely floating around in my head you told me a while back - something about Granma's or great-granma's father being lost or not able to find him somewhere? So she was intrigued. Haha.) Anyway, so those might be heading your way. :D (family history is awesome!)

OKAY, so this week was le awesome! Sorry for the short note last week; sometimes I feel like ADD-ness just kicks me around since all six of us missionaries email in the same place. Problematic. Anyway, more cool stuff!

This week we had something awesome happen- we got a text from the MTC! All referrals that Temple Square, or any other visitor's center, receives from members, gets sent to a referral center (near the MTC I think) that send things out to us. Since I've been out I haven't gotten very many of them, but when they do happen they generally yield good results. This one was no exception! The text said that his name was Les, he was 61, and he'd met with missionaries before but recently moved. Good signs! So we called him and set up a time to go see him. (Cue freakouts of excitement and nervousness from our companionship. :D ) We decided it would be a good idea to take members with us, so we called up his closest neighbors and went to go see him. Well, throughout the 20-min conversation he was as chatty and as friendly as could be! We barely had to say anything before he said, "Yeah, I think church is something I need to get into again. I'll go to church with you on Sunday!" We about fell over! He came to church with the members we brought (they drove him) and he seemed to enjoy it. AND he said he'd come again next week! Aaah! So yes, miracle, definitely! :D :D :D

Another great thing this week was our lesson with Jessie. We've determined that Fridays are now having to be renamed cry-day, cos we always cry. (I promise, I don't usually cry otherwise, haha.) It's just the spirit! It's so powerful and strong at some lessons, and all the lessons that we have with her and her boyfriend's mom (they're bffs) are phenomenal. SHE'S SO GREAT! She's such a light. They're one of my favorite parts of the week. Oof. I'm so happy and blessed to be teaching her! This week we talked about tithing and fasting, and man- there are some powerful blessings that come from those commandments! It's good to think too about how commandments aren't really supposed to be viewed as a bad thing - they're guardrails on the side of a cliff, y'know? Things to keep us safe, not "restricted". It's one of those things you can't explain unless you experience it. But it's awesome!

ALSO, our investigator Katie got baptized! YAAAY! Picture attached. She's so cute :3 We're so happy for her! So now we'll get to start doing our "new member lessons", which is just a review so they can remember the things they've learned and ask more questions about other things. Hooray :) 

Yes, so, things are going awesome. Also, I know Dad asked: as missionaries we get copies of the Ensign, so I'll be able to read the talks over again. Thanks for asking! :) And thanks for signing my contract for next year, too - an option is to try to sell the fall contract by itself, but I don't know if that's possible what with all the people going out on missions right now. But it's an option if you think you can get it done.

Happy week! Hope it warms up back there sometime. Be happy! We're workin' hard out here :)

LOVELOVELOVE,

Sister Nelson

Sisters Nelson and Smith with Katie April 2013

Hiya!

:D!

Say hello to my new companion~ Sister Smith! ("Oh that's easy to remember!" has been the top comment of the week, haha.)

Also all the Elders and Sisters who are training and being trained. :D For the first time EVAR, more Sisters came out at once than Elders. 8 Sisters, 7 Elders! That's a looooot! So, yeah. Yay for that I guess. :D?

Conference was soooo goood! There was understandably a lot about the family, and of course I liked the the talks about missionary work and stuff :) I don't have my notes in front of me, but I'm excited for the Ensign to come out so I can study them all again. Each conference seems to get better and better! 

So did I understand Dad correctly in assuming that both your hives disapperated? Sheesh. Nobody's happy XD I hope it gets warmer for you! It's supposed to be in the 70°s this week, so I'll see what I can send back thatways :P It rained most of the weekend here, too. So the saying goes, "when it rains, it pours!" Who knew. Haha.

Training! *flail* I'm doing my best, but Sister Smith is definitely much better prepared than I was. It's a common theme. I think it's cos she's more willing to practice than I was, but we all have some idea of my stubbornness. Hooray? I'm getting better! It's hard to let go and change ourselves sometimes, but that's what we can learn from Alma 24:17-18. We all have our own "weapons of war", or our own vices and things we can remove from ourselves to be able to help others better. Sometimes it has to do with how we treat each other, things we say that we can remove from our language, sometimes bad habits we need to break. It's tough, but we can prevail! Especially if we involve the Lord in helping us to remove those things from our lives- or even if we need help identifying them to remove them (cos we're not perfect by any means!). 

Thank you for your support! Dad's letter was the only one I got this week, although granted it was transfer week so things don't get circulated well through the mission office. It is what it is. :)

I love you all soooo much! I'm grateful for your prayers- I can feel them working in the lives of my life and in the lives of my companion & investigators! :3

I LOVE LOVE LOVE you!!

Sister Nelson

With Sister Smith and Pres and Sister Westin April 2013

New Missionaries and Trainers April 2013

Hiya

HAI FAMILY!

Happy Easter! It was a good day. We had a musical presentation down in Chico, so that was what we spent most of ourSunday Evening doing. It was fun for dinner too, we went up to Magalia and had a dinner with a few of the active members up there (it was quite a party). Good times. Sounds like you had fun too! I wish I could've been there. I haven't been able to have Easter at home for a long time now, huh?

WELL, the big news this week is TRANSFERS! I'll let you speculate about that for a minute while I tell you that tomorrow,Tuesday, there will be 35 missionaries coming out, 8 of them being Sisters. That's a lot of missionaries! That's a lot of Sisters!!!! Last transfer we had 6 come out and we thought that was huge. Since there are so many more Sisters coming out, They're opening areas for Sisters up in Redding, which is the farthest north our mission goes. That's 5 hours from end to end in the mission! One of the Sisters that's going up there is leaving from Dry Creek, one of the furthest area south to serve, so she gets to hop from end to end :) Actually, that's Sister Tittle, and she was my MTC companion. Remember her? Anyway, since there's 8 new ones coming out Sister Loveland is going down to Dry Creek and I will be training. I'm super nervous, although calm at the same time. It's a strange sensation. Everyone's been telling me they think I'll be great, so I don't really know what's going to happen. ¯\[°_O]/¯ Keep lovin' 'em, I guess! Eep.

So anyway, things are going well here. Do you remember Veronica that I talked about in Loomis? (Maybe?) Well, she's going to get baptized on Sunday in Loomis! YAY! I don't know that I'll be able to go, it's a long drive from here, but I'll be sure to ask. We'll see.

I have a request, also. There's a MoTab CD that I really liked from the Hunts house, it's called Come Thou Fount. Just a thought for future boxes. Also a CD that Sis. Loveland had - I can't recall the exact name, but something like the World's Most Calming Classical Music. It's got a blue cover on the front, and a little globe. Two CDs, that thing. If you look for it and can't find it I'll jot down the title. 

ANYWAY, things are going awesome! This week I was reading Jesus the Christ, and I managed to line up reading about his last week in mortality along with the Easter week. It was pretty inspiring. I thought it was really interesting just how ironic things worked out - they were such devout followers of the law, but at the same time they broke pretty much every one of them in the "trial" of Jesus. Kind of backwards. It just had to work out that way, you know? 

Not much else going on. Thanks for your prayers and support! Thank you for writing me, it helps me feel your love :) Stay great! I hope it gets warmer so the asparagus pops up n_n

LOVELOVELOVE you!

Sister Nelson