Feb 24th

Hey everybody! Well, okay. I really don't know what to tell you. I love you all and The End. he he. just kidding. But this week went by super fast! I don't know what to do with myself sometimes. Sometimes it feels like the next day is forever away and everything is happening so slow, but then each time we hit a mark it seems like the time in between was hardly there.

Okay, well yesterday I gave a talk in the spanish ward. I gave my talk and Sister Bettinson gave hers, and that was the whole program. kinda weird. I'm not sure how much of my talk people understood especially because I was trying to tell stories and my past tense isn't very good at all. But we had a family at church!!!!!! and that helped take the stress off of talking in church by a lot. But it was a very stressful sunday. First time I've ever had a family, so it was different trying to find all the diferent classes and worring about all the different places, if things are going well and if they're enjoying it etc. But it was super great!!

The family we actually found from knocking. We went to contact a lady that lived in an apt complex and then we decided to knock a few of the doors. And Sister Bettinson said that she wanted a knocking miracle so we were gonna knock one more door and we found the Lopez family! The dad is gone a lot working, and he comes back for a week about every two months. So there's the mom, and then the oldest child is the 13 yr old daughter, then 11 boy, 8 boy, 6 girl and 2 little boy. Everyone but the dad came to church yesterday, cause the dad was gone. The oldest girl is actually the most interested. When we first met them she actually took us aside to confide in us. She expressed some of the worries and struggles that she's dealing with right now and how she wants to turn to God more to help her out and she wants to change and be good. It was really cool! The fun thing about this mission, particularly this area, is that quite a bit of the families are very much bilingual. Usually the parents don't know any or very little english, but the kids, particularly the teenagers prefer english, so always talk to us in english, and the younger kids, particularly under six, speak spanish. Some of them may know or understand english but they prefer spanish. So it's pretty interesting. The problem is that it's super hard to not just fall into english. When someone talks to me in english my instinct is to respond in english, but we do our best to keep it in the language that everybody understands. So lessons are always super interesting. There is never only one language that goes on down here. You just use both.

But yup. That is really all I can think of. Well, we have more investigators now than I've ever had before, (which of course isn't hard to beat) but because of that I think I can sympathize with mom's excuse, that when there's so many people you're in charge of you forget things. So that's my excuse. There is so much that happens that's so fast that I can't remember any one thing ever.

So I'll just tell you whatever pops into my head.

We meet lots of interesting people here. And I have learned the smell of beer, it's disgusting. There are a bunch of crazy guys in our area that like to talk to us. There's one guy that showed us his "condo" that consisted of a couch underneath a tarp tied to a boat sitting in front of an apartment complex. And we see him quite a bit sitting in a chair somewhere along the main road, and he asks us why we don't come to see him.

We also get Mexico stories. And I have resolved that I don't want to cross the border on land, at any point in my life unless there is dramatic improvements in Mexico. I'll still definately go back to Mexico City, but not anywhere near the border. We also hear border crossing stories, it's pretty cool. And it's super expensive to cross the border.

Well, I can't think of any other random things.

I love you !

Hermana NJ Nielson

10 Feb. 2014

Okay, well, I don't think very well when it's time to write.

Well once upon a time I got a cough (I don't know how to spell it, I think its tos in spanish) but it was pretty dumb and so then it just kept going on and on and so every time we visit someone they notice that of course that I have a pretty bad cough. But The awesome spanish sisters like taking care of us. and I've now been given medicine 3 times there on the spot and been sent home with some three times and twice been given instructions to make an herbal tea. So no worries, I won't die of sickness here. :D
oh yes, and you don't complement them on anything they can give away or you'll get it. Earings, pencils etc. and if you mention anything about walking in the cold or wishing that you had more warm clothes, you'll get a ride home (especially if it's dark, and they'll make sure you go in your appartment) and coats and gloves etc.

Well the big thing in this area that we're stressing about is getting people to church because the majority of the people here don't have cars and we spend probably 50 miles each sunday going to church. We can usually use between 10 and 20 miles on a daily basis but sundays are always 60 to 70. So yeah, brownsville, where the english ward meets is 20 miles one way. and then Los Fresnos, for the spanish isn't quite as far, but it doesn't really matter cause it's still too far to walk. And members are willing to drive the extra out and back to give rides, but not every single week, it adds up. And we don't have enough members with cars to give everyone rides. There's not enough members with cars to give all of the members rides least of all investigators.

What I wish I'd known before my mission as a member is that members have a lot of responsibility in missionary work, more than I thought. I thought it was to give referals and then serve a mission when my time came. But what I wish every member here would do is invite us over to their house to teach their friends and family. Because the work missionaries are supposed to be doing is preparing people for baptism, not running around finding the people who aren't too busy. So I want to leave with you this challenge. To invite the missionaries over for dinner and a lesson with friends/neighbors/family or someone there to listen as well. I know it's kinda a different situation there at home than here. But an example of what I could have done is have my friends come over, Kate, Kaylee, Kelsie, maybe some other friends. But of course the first one. And then we would eat, the missionaries would teach a lesson and then the missionaries go on their way and we go watch a movie or play night games or something like that. You can do a barbque in the back yard, or hay stacks or something. Night games would be perfect afterwards, have a lesson till it's dark enough and all the kids can invite their friends, especially nonmember but members too, just make sure that everyone is going to be paying attention. Just warn the missionaries so that they can come up with an interactive object lesson, or a movie. You can bring in the computer to watch a movie in the front room, etc.

Another thing tell the missionaries that they can bring their investigators for an FHE. This is a commitment. So you need to promise to do it! I know that the instant thought is that there isn't enough time. I know that life is busy. But I also know that being a part of missionary work is neccesary for salvation. :D Ha! that's a guilt tripper, but It's true and I got a quote to prove it as well, it's in PMG. I'll have to tell you next time though. But I also know that just like when you make the time to go to the temple and to read your scriptures you not only find enough time for everything else, but everything else works out better and you're just happier all around!

The commitment is that if you don't do it this week you have to at least make the plans and have them set to do next week. So I'll be expecting a report next monday.

I love you all so very much!

Hermana NJ Nielson

Feb. 1st

Hello everyone! How's it going? Aviana was confirmed yesterday, so that was great! And we had investigators all planned out to come to church, but things didn't work out. Entonces, si. And. . . I don't remember what else happened this week. I ate squid. And. .  I don't know. Both my companion and I were super tired this week. I don't know why, I'm tired all the time but this week was particularly hard. Y, well we created a super great member plan, we haven't got it going completely, but got it started. Remember that Alma and Amulek story? Yeah, did I tell you about how Elder Martino (I think) presented that story? I don't remember. But the moral of the story is that missionaries can try their hardest and be obedient and good and all that and people will still reject them and then the missionaries get super desanimados--don't remember that word-- and then they find a member that likes them and then when the member helps them they can teach the people because the member opens their hearts. Yes, well mi companera y yo are tired of contacting, we don't really like talking to people. That's all we do all day. But we do like teaching people, and talking to members cause they already like us. So our plan is to invite every member to invite a friend--non member or less active-- over to their house for a lesson with us. I think it's great fun. And we want to do it with some of the less actives tambien, depending on where they're at. And, what else. This week, well I don't remember if I told you about Elena, well she went back to Mexico, but her daughter Edna is still here and we're still teaching her. The hard thing is that it's hard to set times with her cause she's not there but when we just show up, she is there. Which is alright except that we want to have members there. But we have spent quite a bit of time the last few weeks with her teaching the first three lessons, and not the commandments yet, particularly the word of wisdom and law of chastity because we felt like she needed a strong testimony of something in one of the first three lessons and even her BD was kinda shaky. But we taught her those two commandments yesterday and she was good with them! ready to change to fix them! It's super great! She has strong desires, and maybe still not a strong testimony of what we're teaching her, but she does the reading and has the desires. We just need to get her to church.

Okay, and did I tell you about Yair? Well we lost him again. I think it's funny considering his name, but at the same time I want to tie the kid up to a pole so he doesn't wander off. We'll find him and hopefully he'll have a phone by then.

I don't remember what else happened. Oh, I feel like an icky wrestler. Once upon a time I was in Southern Texas and the mosquitos decide to pop out everyother day when it's not cold and eat me to pieces. So I was scratching a bit at the thousands of bites on my leg and then looked down and saw that it was red and puffy. So I took extra precaution to not scratch it anymore, but then as the days went on and the mosquito bites stop itching, I notice that the mark is still there. There's actually two, red circles with a red dot in the middle. Dumb! So I feel super yucky, and don't know quite what to do with them other than put antifungal creme on it.

Ha, okay. Sorry. When I e-mail I don't ever know what to tell you so I just write whatever comes to my head. So sorry about that. I guess you can keep track of how sane I am. :D

But I love you!

Con Amor

Hermana NJ Nielson