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