Howdy 

FAMILY~

Is Nick going to the same mission as Craig? That is so neat! Maybe he could train him! :D *brick'd* *unlikely?*

Well, transfers were this week! Sister Loveland & I are staying the same in Paradise tho, so nothing different. (btw, did I give you my address? it's 5248 Royal Canyon Ln, Paradise CA 95969.) This transfer there are 6 sisters coming out, so with everything happening we now have one more companionship of Sisters in the mission, bringing up to a grand total of 14! (That's 26 Sisters, woo!) So we're one of the lucky four companionships not moving - all 10 of the others are moving places, figuring out training, and whatnot. Also, Sisters opened up another area in our Zone, so now there will be two sets of Sisters here in the Chico stake! And coincidentally.... Sister Brown is going there. Together again, jiggety jig! Happy huh ^-^

Thank you SO MUCH for the Valentine's box!! That was so cute and nice, thank you :D Sister Loveland says thanks for the treats, too. It was happy. :) I wanted to follow up tho, how goes the housing hunt for winter semester when I get back? Just curious since I never heard. Also, I'm in need of a plain, heavy-duty scripture case (the one I inherited from another sister is falling apart and looks just really sad). Basically something with a strong handle, as that's what's fraying and falling off on mine. But I'll let you Amazon that up, since I know you're really awesome at that :3

So Matt tells me the Hawks are still without regulation losses XD How happy is that?? *brick'd*

Have so much fun talking about bees :D and good luck on your trip! Tell AZ Granna I said hi and I send my love :3 Maybe these pictures I send you can print and take to her! And Uncle Mike, too! n_n

Yay, seedlings! They're typically in my room a lot, aren't they? Haha. Gotta love the warm room in the house. (I'll appreciate that when I come back from California in December. *headdesk*)

In other news, we had our zone conference on Tuesday! We talked about having a higher sense of commitment, and keeping ourselves to a high standards so the people we teach will be able to follow. The thing about leading people to Christ is: in order to help people get there, we have to already be there ourselves! It was a really great conference :3

Thank you for all of your prayers and support!! I have definitely noticed a difference in everything this week. I will say tho, can you pray that our investigators will be able to start coming to church? That's been a struggle for a lot of them here, but we keep doing our best and trying to help them as best we can. That's all we can do, anyway :)

Y'all are fantastic! I LOVELOVELOVE you!!

Sister Nelson

Feb 2013

Feb 2013

Feb 2013

Family! :D

Cute picture, mom! Did Dad getcha that necklace? 'tis nice! :3

Well, if I'm in danger of becoming a California girl, I'm semi- okay with that. Although, the experience won't be complete since I can't go to the beach. Haha ;D

As for reminding Sister Beeri that she's old, you can tell her "you're welcome"! Haha!

Matt has a couple bffs, doesn't he? Is that Haley? (sp?) Sounds like good times though - is he tired of you yet? Hehe :)

Yay, court of honor! That'll be the 2nd one I missed :D *brick'd*

Hmm, now that I think about it, I didn't get Dad's letter this last week. If it went to the mission office they may have been holding onto it since our mission conferences are this week. Otherwise if you sent it here, it's probably in the stacks of mail on the table since the people we live with are out of town and it's all just in piles. I'll be sure to go through that when I get home! but YAY, PMG! Best manual ever :D

Tell Aliva congrats for me!!! Our ward mission leader served his mission in England, granted it was English speaking. But hooray! Mandarin! :D

This week was really great. One of the ladies in our ward found the bassoon at the high school here (which is really bizarre; who knew all these lil' towns would be able to have access to one??) and we got it on Friday! When we practiced I took a video... but it's too big so I can't send it. Boo. Here's a picture instead! Happy Valentines and all that, we played "Love is Spoken Here" and it was fun. Sister Loveland played the violin! It was great :) We tried to use that as incentive to get our investigators to church (we have the 9am time), but still no one came. Boo. Also, here are some pictures of Paradise! (Well, Magalia. But close enough.)

The last one is the view out our backyard.

Anyway, this week I started reading Jesus the Christ! It's been super great to read things with a little more perspective on the cultural takes and history of it all - it makes things much more real for me, along with a couple blunt takes on doctrine and the traditions of men, haha. Otherwise I've started the book of Jacob this week, and there's too many things happening in this room I can't concentrate on what I'm saying x__x sorry for the sudden ending! I did want to ask you, Mom, how your conversion story is going? 

Hope all is well there! I love you and I'm thankful for your support and everything ^-^

LOVELOVELOVE,

Sister Nelson

Feb 2013

Feb 2013

Feb 2013

FAMILY! <3

Things are great here! It's nice and warm (well, 60 is really great I tell you what) so I'm glad we're not clear down in the single digits. I liked that story about the snow! It makes me think about how the people on the other side of the veil are helping us, even if we can't see them. They do a LOT of stuff, and sometimes things happen that just let us know that they're there. That's as good as I got :)

Oh noes! Craig got rear-ended! D: Well, it's a good learning experience. At least they won't go over on miles this month :D Not that this month is a good time to do it, since it's already shorter. But meh! My only thought is when the Elders have to be on bikes, they really have to rely on the spirit more than car-missionaries do. They can't just zip from place to place, and it helps them to slow down and have the spirit guide them a little bit more. Not to say that car-missionaries don't, but once they have a plan it's hard to change them on the fly. That's my thoughts on that! (And no, I get the same if not less than you. At least it's not a week behind, like my letters to him haha :)

Did you get two boxes, or just the one? Cos I sent two... Hmm. I hope it didn't get lost. And yes, thanks for the stamps! They are happy ^_^

hawkshawks *squee* it's so funny - in this area so far there's been a few people who've been keeping track of it for me XD one even told me their ears are always going to perk up now when they hear about hockey or the blackhawks. win. :D *brick'd*

The Flinder's parents live in Granite Bay! Same as President Weston, actually! Sister Flinders mentioned that in her note last month, and I saw the Elders who cover that ward while we were emailing at the library, and I got to talk to them about that. Small world! Do the Beeri's remember anyone from Paradise? Maybe I can make some fun connections there ;D I love those, those're fun.

This weekend we had a regional conference! Except they covered it up as a stake conference XD The other cool thing was... it was broadcasted from Salt Lake! Super cool, huh? Elder Perry spoke to us, and it was almost exactly a lesson out of Preach My Gospel. I'd recommend getting one of those for Matt to look at now, it's a really basic guide to how to share missionary work. He shared each of the basic 3 lessons in 5 minutes, and I about got chills the whole time :D So great! He really emphasized how there's lots of missionaries coming out now, and we've got to keep them busy! It's not only the missionary's job to find, but it works a whole lot better and more effectively when the ward is SO INVOLVED! Finding, teaching, and especially retention. The secret is friendship!! Just be friends with them and DON'T be afraid to talk about the gospel. Then it's a natural process for the missionaries to be able to teach and get better at teaching, and then the new converts will have friends in the ward and won't fall away. 

This church is true. We have a unique message to share, and we should be so excited to share it with everyone! The gospel of Jesus Christ changes hearts, lives, and perspectives. This church is not a new church, it's a restored church! It is the Savior's church, and he directs it's doings. We boldly declare that He did come to atone for His people, and we in kind declare that He called the prophet Joseph Smith to restore it's truths!!

The direction to bring forth Zion has not been revoked! We live in the dispensation of the fullness of times, and there is no one more involved in this work than our Heavenly Father. We should be doing all we can to pray to Heavenly Father to know how best to assist the missionaries in our own area. Missionary work can be done RIGHT HERE! Yes, we should pray for the missionaries all over the world to be blessed with the spirit, but how can we each gain the direction on how to further the efforts right where we are? Pray for it and He'll let you know. That would be my invitation to you :)

I love you! I feel your prayers and I'm thankful for your wonderful examples and newsy letters :) Thanks for being great! The Lord is on our side! Who can be against us if we have Him on our side? (Ps. 27:1)

LOVELOVELOVE

Sister Nelson

FAMILY! :3

YAAAAY HAWKS *brick'd* Ohmygoodness that makes me so happy. I love the updates, thank you :) Are all of the players back from playing in Europe? I know you told me Hossa had four goals the other week, has he scored a ton more? How's Tazer? :D

 

Don't worry, I won't ever think that you've forgotten me. (And for the record, we're heading straight for the post office after this! I need stamps too so that helps haha.)

 

It would seem that my talent may have had an influence for sure on my call. In this area it's small and elderly, like the Beeri's said. (They WOULD have lived in Paradise XD They've been everywhere!) With that, we have 9am church now so it's REALLY hard for our investigators to come to church that early. As we discovered, our member Sister Sonntag found a bassoon! (I have this thing where I'll say people won't find one, just so I won't jinx it. So I dunno if it's a lack of faith or reverse psychology. *brick'd*) Anyway, we're hoping that because I'm playing bassoon in sacrament in a few weeks (the 10th), they'll be more willing to try to come and see and feel the spirit and be converted! So no, I don't think it's a coincidence at all. Besides, coincidences are angelic arrangements!

 

Woo, ice storms! There's one thing I don't miss about winter back there XD It's been about 50° every day since I got here, so definitely not freezing cold (only at night). So it's nice :)

 

Hooray for the missionaries! Tell them congrats for me! :D and YAY, Sisters~! Did they ask for referrals? What was their dinner thought about?

 

I'm glad Matt's having fun. Music is so much more interesting when you know how to have fun with it! (He told me the bassoonist is an awesome composer too, so there's another star for the bassoon class n_n)

 

Well, despite not having any investigators to church (9am, whyyy) we had a great week! We taught a ton of lessons and learned a lot from the scriptures and the spirit. We've been having a lot of right-places-right-time situations. For example, we went over to a less-active's house (the Green's) to check in on them and see how they were doing. We found that she has a super strong testimony about the gospel, but she works on Sunday so that's the only hang-up. It was funny though- towards the end she says to us, "By the way, who do I talk to about getting Katie (her 10 yr old daughter) baptized? She hasn't been yet." Let me tell you, it's startling when someone says that! I was completely unprepared for that (she's a child of record so she's on our ward list) so Sister Loveland and I both gaped for a minute before we explained that because she's over 8, we get to teach her! So we're going back on Tuesday to teach the first lesson and set a baptismal date with her :3 Hooray! I love it when that happens ^_^

 

@Dad: I remember you were born in Cali somewhere - where exactly? I was trying to remember and don't think I ever properly knew. :D

 

Anyway, THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHAAANG! You're all great and I'm so thankful for your prayers and all that you do for me while I'm out :) and for the Lord! cos that makes all the difference!

 

LOVELOVELOVE,

Sister Nelson

HOCKEY *brick'd* I mean, FAMILY! <3

I actually heard about the Hawks beating the Kings - I was introducing myself to a member family and talking about how I was from Chicago, and they started asking me about baseball and football and whatever. But, per usual, I told them I was a hockey fan instead. "Oh, those are the Blackhawks, right? They beat the Kings last night, but that's the only thing I've seen." Sister Loveland (my new companion) was cracking up at how excited and elated I was XD you can imagine. Haha.

@Cookies: Samoas :3 also a tossup between trefoils and thanks-a-lot. take your pick! thank you! das so nice :3

As far as my address, the funny thing is they're hoping to move us out of there soon, too (member family has a son on a mission right now, comes home in less than a month). So meh. In any case, here it is! 8372 Montna Dr. Paradise CA 95969 I did get Dad's letter this last week, so it worked out :) And again, thank you always for writing me. It means a lot to be able to hear from you throughout the week too :3

As far as a bassoon, ironically (or coincidentally?) the first family I met when I was in Paradise learned I played bassoon on scholarship to BYU XD so this lady is convinced she's going to be able to find a bassoon, but we'll see how that goes. (and she announced it to the Relief Society yesterday - aah, that was slightly embarrassing XDXD) best of luck to her, it's kinda tiny up here. ¯\[°_O]/¯

Okie, I will write them! And I'm glad you're keeping in touch with S. Pulsipher. She's so cute :)

Not much to report on this front. There's lots of work to be done, but a lot of it has to do with less-active visits, since this is kind of a retirement community and people by situation are unable to come to church. So there's a lot of that. There's a 99 year old in this ward though! She turns 100 in September, and that would be all kinds of fun to stick around and see, huh?

This week I had a really cool experience when I was studying John chapter 11. In it, there's two different experiences between the sisters Mary and Martha, who both come to Jesus and say the same thing to him, but have completely different responses. The first was Martha, who comes to Jesus perhaps knowing that he could make things better, but not expressing the kind of faith to allow him to actually change the situation. Jesus tells her about the Resurrection, and Martha expresses that she knows that Jesus is the Savior. Then comes Mary, who to my interpretation tried to do all she could to console herself and then went to Jesus to have him make up the rest. It was her faith in that that I believe that he was able to show forth the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead, or as referred to by Pres. Monson, the miracle of thanks. There's a lot more to it than that, but in simple terms, that's what it came down to.

Anyway, thanks always for your prayers and support and love! I can definitely feel them working in my life, and I can tell that this mission is really changing me. There's been so many great experiences that have shaped me in different ways and helped me see the ways that Heavenly Father works in my life, other people's life, and just how everything works together. it's been awesome! Doesn't mean it isn't hard, but it's sure worth it.

You're awesome~! I LOVE LOVE LOVE you!!!

Sister Nelson

Family! <3

 

for the record, we did show up our zone leaders >D *brick'd* The Lord's tender mercies are great, because we had 11 investigators at church!! and we found 3 new investigators this week that came to church with us :D The Lord is great and merciful to all his children <3

 

@Those pictures - if you got the ones with the five ladies (and I'm on the far left) - Sister Pilcher is next to me (she spoiled us for both Thanksgiving and Christmas *blush*), Sister Ripplinger's next to her, followed by Sister Stearn (recent convert as of '06ish I think) and then Veronica, a stellar investigator who waited on the grounds for the whole two hours we were in the session! She wants to be baptized so much, but there are some struggles with her family right now so she can't. We think she'll be baptized soon though, so definitely pray for her twofold!!

 

I'm planning on a flu shot later today, thanks. I had a cold this week, but nothing too bad. I think it might be allergy related, but I'm not sure yet. (Remember when I had those for the first week when I got out here? Haha.)

 

We're trying to be effective today with everything crazy having to happen today, but we'll do our best to get the post office. We're a popular bunch. XD

 

HOCKEY *brick'd* KEEP ME POSTED :D I'M EXCITED! but not as excited as I thought I'd be ¯\[°_O]/¯

 

ANYWAY, not a lot of time (gottapack) ... oops, I didn't mention. I'M TRANSFERING TO PARADISE! The Coldplay song has been stuck in my head for the last 12 hours. Dad's letter is probably long gone, but if you save it send it to the mission office! If not, I'll get it eventually. Sorry, I should've mentioned transfers sooner. I forgot with all the insanity going on.

 

I got to play bassoon in church yesterday! We played a really pretty arrangement of "Be Still My Soul". It was close though, we almost didn't get to play (apparently there's a history in that stake of people in wards trying to outdo each other with special musical numbers, so they've just axed them completely). We didn't know that until about ten minutes before sacrament though, so as expected I was frustrated and angry about the situation. Luckily we had planned to play with Debbie (I told you about her and her husband Sean in the letter last week, I think. Or the week before; one of those). She came and we told her what they had said, and she went to ask Bishop if we could still do it. Because of the late notice to us, and the fact that we had invited non-members to come (her husband and his friend, particularly) he said that we could! YAY, tender mercy! But there was another reason that we were allowed to play, and we found out after the 2nd hour: Cathy is a member in our ward whose husband, Tony, is trying the church out. When we talked to her after class, she said that she'd found that song - Be Still My Soul - for the first time this week and had never heard it in church before. She'd listened to it on repeat all week long, and her father had died early Saturday morning. The song really helped her with that, and it had touched her heart deeply. She told us that as she was getting ready that morning, she had prayed to hear that song in church somehow. "I know that you played that song today for me," she said. I have no doubt of that! And to think we almost weren't able to play it - wow! That hit me really hard - I always want to be close enough to the Lord so I can somehow be an answer to someone's prayer.

 

Yes. So there's that. My new companion will be Sister Loveland, in the Paradise 2nd ward. If you're looking on a map for it, it's kinda between Chico and Gridley (or, so they tell me). Stay tuned - I hear it's wooded, hilly, and full of old people :P

 

Thank you ALWAYS for your prayers! You're the best!

<3<3<3

 

LOVELOVELOVE,

Sister Nelson

Jan 2013 Temple Trip

Hello Family!!

Anyway, pictures for you.  n_n

Exciting news! We're going to the temple on Saturday! (woooooo!) so we're taking a half p-day today (such a lame rule) and going super early. We're excited for this week, we're running to see if we can work oodles hard this week to show that we know what we're doing. I'm hoping that doesn't backfire on us, but we've been meaning to catch up on some work this week and I think this may just have been Heavenly Father's way of motivating us to get going again after a sluggish two weeks of holiday. So our bad. XD

  

I went on exchanges to Rocklin this week, so that's how you heard from Sister Pulsipher :D She's really the kindest lady, isn't she? :)

The box from the mission home was just from the mission home.. the senior couples decided some of us needed extra love. So I got lots of candy. (Oh boy! Haha.)

  

As far as the letter or the box getting to you first, I wasn't able to get to the post office last week so it'll be sent out today. There's two, and I sent some munchies in them so feel free to help yourself. Also pictures... among other things.

The spirit works in marvelous ways though, I tell you what! This week on one of the days, our dinner appointment cancelled because of some family business. We weren't sure what to plan instead (a lot of members tell us just to come by if things fall through, but we were just trying to make sure nobody felt like we were taking advantage of them), but twenty minutes later a member called and asked us if we would join them for a lunch or dinner on that very day that had just fallen through. We were excited (this was the same family that had us over for Thanksgiving, so we like them a lot n_n), so we planned to go with them! yay! There are NO coincidences in any of this work though, so we showed up and one of the son's best friends from basically his whole life was there with his fiance. We had dinner and started to clean up, and my companion felt pressed to ask the best-friend if he had any questions about a program he'd watched recently. He said he did, and started asking about Joseph Smith and different things, so Sister Ripplinger (and the other 3 RMs in the room) started answering his questions and outlining the first lesson about the restoration. (I was in the kitchen cleaning, I didn't realize it had happened until I came back and everyone was being all reverent.) After everything was discussed and they were satisfied, they left to go home and we talked about the experience. We determined that us missionaries and them being together that night was absolutely critical, and even though we think it'll take a while for the lesson to sink into their hearts that they fell like they actually need it, they will definitely come to the knowledge on their own in time. It was such a cool experience, knowing that we were there to launch them on the path of finding out on their own. We won't see them start to finish, or probably teach them a lesson again while either of us are here. But the fact that we responded when the spirit was present and directed us to that situation was perfect and absolutely of the spirit. Wahoo!

I love you! Stay great, and thank you for your kind words of encouragement! Also your prayers, definitely. They are working mighty things in Loomis and I'm grateful for them!

LOVELOVELOVE,

Sister Nelson

1/5/13

11/12/12

Sister Slaugh, Sister Pulsipher and Sister Nelson
From Sister Pulsipher 1/7/13