Monday, May 25, 2015
I love missionary work so much, you guys. So much. It's so hard to summarize everything that happens in a week, but my companion and I have been truly blessed by our obedience, faith, and diligent study of the scriptures.
My companion is a rock and I'm learning so much every day! I'm so grateful that this is a work that the Lord promises to guide us through. I could not do this without his help. It's been amazing to see the miracles that faith and obedience can help us accomplish! I'm also so grateful for the way that the Spirit bears witness of truth. How could people possibly know the truth of what we share if the Spirit didn't bear witness of it? It would be so impossible. So impossible.
I'm also really grateful to see his hand in the work every day. I came on my mission and really anticipated being able to meet someone, teach them, and then be able to teach them through to their baptism. I was convinced that would mean I was a successful missionary. Though nothing is impossible with the Lord, and that could very well happen, I've learned to be satisfied with whatever opportunities the Lord has given me. In reference to the seed analogy in Alma 32, many of the missionaries I talk to talk about how the Lord calls some of us to be "planters," others to help nourish the seed, and others of us to be "harvesters." A planter, of course, plants the seed. A lot of missionary work is to plant the seed. Haha. Discouraging as it is sometimes, seed planting is the most valuable thing you can do. Nothing can grow if you don't plant the seed! Others of us are called to nourish the seed, or to help it grow, and that's also crucial. The seed will never grow if it isn't nourished. Again, much of missionary work, in my experience, is to nourish and to plant. But when the seed has grown, it needs to be harvested... but only when it's ready. And sometimes the Lord, in his great mercy, lets missionaries see when a seed is ready to be harvested.
We've been teaching someone named Paulena. She's been a member her whole life, but has recently made the church a priority after a long time of not doing so. When I first got to this area, we went over a few times to teach her the returning member lessons. They were also such great lessons because Paulena has been prepared! She is so ready to be back and doing these things she was raised to do. Unbeknownst to me at first, she's married to a guy named Earnado, or "E", who is not a member and had been taking the lessons from the missionaries. The first couple of lessons Sister Moetala and I had with Paulena, we briefly saw E, and either he was randomly (it was random to me because I didn't know he had taken the lessons) telling us that he'd been reading the Book of Mormon, or he was in the worst mood ever and stayed downstairs or made brief and awkward appearances just to storm out of the room and upset Paulena. PTSD is a real struggle, y'all. A real struggle. Paulena had talked about asking E if he wanted a blessing, but he wasn't really open to it at first. Then, you know, you get busy with other missionary pursuits, and people just kind of fall off the radar.
But then one day at church, just a few weeks ago, I see Paulena there (which wasn't unusual) with this guy. I had no idea who he was. Completely unfamiliar to me. I went to ask Paulena about it, but I didn't figure out it was her husband until I see them holding hands and taking care of their kids together. I didn't even recognize E! He had shaved his beard, wasn't wearing a beanie, and his whole countenance had changed! He was answering questions in Gospel Principles like he'd been a member his whole life! Shortly afterward, we got in with Paulena again and started teaching E. Apparently he finally got that blessing from his home teachers and he turned his whole life around. Teaching him is such a tender mercy for us because he is so ready and so prepared and he is so ready to change his life for the better. His faith has been so inspiring for us!
The Lord truly prepares his children to receive the gospel. I wish you could see Earnado's dedication to getting baptized on June 6, y'all. It is an amazing thing to watch him put everything behind to follow Christ. "I would leave anyone to follow Christ," he says. It's amazing. (Please keep him in your prayers. We just realized that he can't get baptized if he's using nicotine patches.)
This work is so great. It's so good to be a missionary!
Love you all!
Sister Nielsen
Note from Lisa: She included this attachment with the email, but didn't explain why it's significant.
Sunday, May 31, 2015
How many weeks now? I've lost track
Monday, May 18, 2015
I know y'all hate it when I do this, but here's the letter I sent to my mission president this week. Sometimes you just have a lot to do on the computer, and an hour and a half doesn't quite cut it. Love you all! Thank you for your continued love and support!
What an incredible week! I can't believe the things we're able to accomplish through hard work, diligence, and sincere and faith-filled prayer.
We had our zone training meeting this week. I love that our mission tries to avoid calling them "meetings," and instead refers to them as "revelatory experiences." It really is for good reason! It was such an inspired training about the importance of faith-filled prayers to bring the Spirit and teaching doctrine in our lessons and tracting to bring the Spirit. Truly the only way to bring the truth of our message is to help others to feel the Spirit. The Spirit is the only one who knows our hearts intimately, and certain things will only resonate through the Spirit. We were trained on how to avoid "the fluff" in our interactions in tracting, and in our role-plays, the Spirit was so strong as we were able to bear pure and simple testimony about the doctrine that people needed to hear.
It's been something we've seen really bless our efforts as a companionship. Yesterday, in fact, we had a street contact lesson with a young man named Jose who seemed a bit standoffish at first, but it was amazing and humbling to see him soften and become more receptive as we taught the doctrine of the Restoration and the First Vision. It was so amazing to see the things we were trained on help see success. (Though we will refer him to the YSA elders, it's amazing all the same!)
Truly some of us are sewers and others reapers. It really doesn't matter where you see the success; we really don't waste our time out here! As long as we're diligently seeking for people to teach, we will find! I can't wait to write more about the success we've seen next week! I ran out of time! Ahhh!
Pictures are from the temple trip and zone conference. Sorry for the lack of captions.
I know y'all hate it when I do this, but here's the letter I sent to my mission president this week. Sometimes you just have a lot to do on the computer, and an hour and a half doesn't quite cut it. Love you all! Thank you for your continued love and support!
What an incredible week! I can't believe the things we're able to accomplish through hard work, diligence, and sincere and faith-filled prayer.
We had our zone training meeting this week. I love that our mission tries to avoid calling them "meetings," and instead refers to them as "revelatory experiences." It really is for good reason! It was such an inspired training about the importance of faith-filled prayers to bring the Spirit and teaching doctrine in our lessons and tracting to bring the Spirit. Truly the only way to bring the truth of our message is to help others to feel the Spirit. The Spirit is the only one who knows our hearts intimately, and certain things will only resonate through the Spirit. We were trained on how to avoid "the fluff" in our interactions in tracting, and in our role-plays, the Spirit was so strong as we were able to bear pure and simple testimony about the doctrine that people needed to hear.
It's been something we've seen really bless our efforts as a companionship. Yesterday, in fact, we had a street contact lesson with a young man named Jose who seemed a bit standoffish at first, but it was amazing and humbling to see him soften and become more receptive as we taught the doctrine of the Restoration and the First Vision. It was so amazing to see the things we were trained on help see success. (Though we will refer him to the YSA elders, it's amazing all the same!)
Truly some of us are sewers and others reapers. It really doesn't matter where you see the success; we really don't waste our time out here! As long as we're diligently seeking for people to teach, we will find! I can't wait to write more about the success we've seen next week! I ran out of time! Ahhh!
Pictures are from the temple trip and zone conference. Sorry for the lack of captions.
Two months already?
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
This week has been really great! It's been amazing to see the miracles that come from hard work and diligent obedience! From the minute my new companion stepped in the car with us to come back to Pasco, the miracles have been flowing. Sister Tuigamala is a hard worker and she is so Christlike. I am continually inspired by her example.
We had the privilege to meet with a part-member family. Cameron, their 9-year-old son, accepted the invitation to be baptized and we're diligently trying to get in with him to teach him before May 30. Please keep him in your prayers. Though we may have to bump the baptism back, and maybe we won't, I know that our faith can help us accomplish the Lord's will for him. He is so excited to be baptized and he just eats up everything we teach him. His mother is so supportive of him, and we pray to be able to teach him all he needs to know before he makes this commitment to the Lord.
I'm so grateful that Sister Tuigamala is so committed to the work. It's an adjustment for me, for sure, to keep up with her and her confidence in talking to EVERYONE (and I mean everyone) we see, but it has also been a blessing. I know there is no growth in the comfort zone and no comfort in the growth zone. I know also that the Savior's grace will guide me to becoming the missionary he needs me to be, and loving the people genuinely with a love that only he perfected.
My studies yesterday, took me to 1 Nephi 3:7. It was so inspiring for me to think that the Lord will provide a way for all of the things he commands us to do, if we are faithful. Faith has the power to do so much, and this is something I talked about in last week's letter, and it's something that continues to impress me. The Lord has prepared a way for me to accomplish His work, and I know that as I have faith in that promise, I can see miracles.
I'm so grateful to be a missionary. I'm so grateful for the work.
--
"The Gospel's True, Folks!"
Sister Melanie Nielsen
This week has been really great! It's been amazing to see the miracles that come from hard work and diligent obedience! From the minute my new companion stepped in the car with us to come back to Pasco, the miracles have been flowing. Sister Tuigamala is a hard worker and she is so Christlike. I am continually inspired by her example.
We had the privilege to meet with a part-member family. Cameron, their 9-year-old son, accepted the invitation to be baptized and we're diligently trying to get in with him to teach him before May 30. Please keep him in your prayers. Though we may have to bump the baptism back, and maybe we won't, I know that our faith can help us accomplish the Lord's will for him. He is so excited to be baptized and he just eats up everything we teach him. His mother is so supportive of him, and we pray to be able to teach him all he needs to know before he makes this commitment to the Lord.
I'm so grateful that Sister Tuigamala is so committed to the work. It's an adjustment for me, for sure, to keep up with her and her confidence in talking to EVERYONE (and I mean everyone) we see, but it has also been a blessing. I know there is no growth in the comfort zone and no comfort in the growth zone. I know also that the Savior's grace will guide me to becoming the missionary he needs me to be, and loving the people genuinely with a love that only he perfected.
My studies yesterday, took me to 1 Nephi 3:7. It was so inspiring for me to think that the Lord will provide a way for all of the things he commands us to do, if we are faithful. Faith has the power to do so much, and this is something I talked about in last week's letter, and it's something that continues to impress me. The Lord has prepared a way for me to accomplish His work, and I know that as I have faith in that promise, I can see miracles.
I'm so grateful to be a missionary. I'm so grateful for the work.
--
"The Gospel's True, Folks!"
Sister Melanie Nielsen
Monday, May 4, 2015
Powerful Faith
Monday, May 4, 2015
I'm sorry, but I don't have a ton of time today. I just quickly wanted to share a cool experience I had this week.
I'm so grateful for our district. In our district councils lately, we've talked a lot about praying more specifically and setting goals with faith. Also, something that I don't quite understand yet, but creating our success and goals spiritually before we create them physically. Sister Moetala has tried to explain that it's something the Lord did when he created the earth— creating all things spiritually before he created them physically— but it's still something I'm working to understand.
That was something my companion and I tried this week: We said, with words of faith, that we'd go out and meet the goals we had set, then we set a plan for people we didn't have set appointments with and determined that we would find at least one investigator. With that goal and that faith, we came across a member whom we were prompted to go visit. (We actually didn't know they were members, but it was a pleasant surprise when we found out they were!) After talking to them for a minute to get to know them, we asked if they had been working with anyone or if they had any neighbors who'd want to hear our message, and they gave us FIVE referrals right there on the spot. We then left to go contact them and scheduled a return appointment with one— Katie, a mother of two and the sweetest lady ever, for tomorrow!
It's amazing to see what faith can do and what it helped us accomplish this week. I know that faith really does bring great miracles to pass. As we believe in him, he makes it all possible. A favorite scripture that I came across this week is Moroni 7:33, which says, "...if ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me." And I know that's true. He gives us power to do impossible things through our faith. The faithful goals we set and the faithful prayers we say as missionaries are so important for our success.
I'm so grateful for all the things our Heavenly Father makes possible through something so simple.
--
"The Gospel's True, Folks!"
Sister Melanie Nielsen
These are the Pasco water towers. You can see them from everywhere in Tri Cities— even from the temple, which is in Richland, clear across the valley.
There's a forklift at the Union Gospel Mission, where we do service every week. We sort clothes and food for charity. It reminds me WAY too much of the DI sometimes!
Yep. One of the members has a drumset. I'm so rusty!
Our district on Tuesday after district council. What a great group of missionaries!
I got an Elsa spoon in my Apple Jacks. This is important.
I'm sorry, but I don't have a ton of time today. I just quickly wanted to share a cool experience I had this week.
I'm so grateful for our district. In our district councils lately, we've talked a lot about praying more specifically and setting goals with faith. Also, something that I don't quite understand yet, but creating our success and goals spiritually before we create them physically. Sister Moetala has tried to explain that it's something the Lord did when he created the earth— creating all things spiritually before he created them physically— but it's still something I'm working to understand.
That was something my companion and I tried this week: We said, with words of faith, that we'd go out and meet the goals we had set, then we set a plan for people we didn't have set appointments with and determined that we would find at least one investigator. With that goal and that faith, we came across a member whom we were prompted to go visit. (We actually didn't know they were members, but it was a pleasant surprise when we found out they were!) After talking to them for a minute to get to know them, we asked if they had been working with anyone or if they had any neighbors who'd want to hear our message, and they gave us FIVE referrals right there on the spot. We then left to go contact them and scheduled a return appointment with one— Katie, a mother of two and the sweetest lady ever, for tomorrow!
It's amazing to see what faith can do and what it helped us accomplish this week. I know that faith really does bring great miracles to pass. As we believe in him, he makes it all possible. A favorite scripture that I came across this week is Moroni 7:33, which says, "...if ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me." And I know that's true. He gives us power to do impossible things through our faith. The faithful goals we set and the faithful prayers we say as missionaries are so important for our success.
I'm so grateful for all the things our Heavenly Father makes possible through something so simple.
--
"The Gospel's True, Folks!"
Sister Melanie Nielsen
These are the Pasco water towers. You can see them from everywhere in Tri Cities— even from the temple, which is in Richland, clear across the valley.
There's a forklift at the Union Gospel Mission, where we do service every week. We sort clothes and food for charity. It reminds me WAY too much of the DI sometimes!
Yep. One of the members has a drumset. I'm so rusty!
Our district on Tuesday after district council. What a great group of missionaries!
I got an Elsa spoon in my Apple Jacks. This is important.
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Missionary work is THE BEST, you guys... the best!
Monday, April 27, 2015
What a great week! The Lord blessed us with five scheduled return appointments with five new investigators as we've contacted our referrals and worked harder in our efforts to open our mouths as we knock and look for people to teach. I went on my first split and exchange this week. Both great and exciting experiences!
For those who don't know, to go on a split means that between the two of us in our companionship, and two members that we invite to come to lessons with us, go to two appointments at the same time, but with each member. (Any questions?) I'll talk a little more about my splits later. To go on an exchange means to temporarily trade companions with the leaders in your zone— or the Sister Training Leaders (STLs), in our case. Our STLs are in Kennewick, and I got to go to Kennewick while the Sister from Kennewick came to be with my companion. Between the four of us, we had a productive and SUPER FUN day! Because of lack of time, I'll send you what I wrote to my mission president today to let you know what's been going on!
LOVE YOU ALL!
Sister Nielsen
President Ware!
This week has been such a blessing. I've been feeling so much better about being on my mission. That's not to say that I never felt good about it, but as a new missionary, I was having a hard time adjusting. I missed home, I was doubting myself as a missionary and my abilities, and as a result, I was really critical toward my companion and questioned a lot of what she taught me. But I have been so humbled and so blessed to have overcome a lot of the obstacles I've been facing by being able to see the error of my ways. Truly, the Savior was called to earth to teach his gospel and give us the way. It's been amazing to me to see his counsel bless my life.
In the New Testament he teaches, "Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you." This has been so helpful in my relationship with my companion. Now, it must be understood: I have never and do not see my companion as my enemy. Have I misunderstood her criticism? Have I murmured against her counsel? Yes. And it was me that was in the wrong. Is my companion perfect? No. And neither am I. But when I wasn't seeing clearly and I felt picked on and alone, I began to pray for her. I trusted that she was probably and more than likely going through hard things, too. Yeah, I'm a new missionary. Yeah, I can get pretty homesick. Yeah, I don't always believe I'm a good teacher or that I have anything to say that's going to bless these people, but my companion is probably going through the EXACT SAME THINGS that I'm going through. Only worse! Imagine being a trainer and taking on so much responsibility. Imagine knowing that, as a missionary's first trainer, that much of what you teach her will carry through her whole mission. Imagine knowing that you're not perfect and praying every night that your weaknesses and imperfections won't carry through that missionary's whole mission.
As I prayed for my companion, I started to see things from her perspective, and I started to have a desire to serve her and lift her up instead of being so critical and expecting so much of her. As I started to exercise the Savior's teachings, I started to see our relationship improve, and that means the world to me. We've started to trust each other and we're starting to have a TON of fun together. Not only that, but we've started to work so much harder and we're starting to reach and exceed our goals. We're starting. You know? And I think that's the key in any relationship: starting to improve together. Working harder and harder each day and repenting and trying. President Monson said, "Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.'" And that's the doctrine of Christ. Having faith to know that we can repent each day. Enduring to the end is to "try again tomorrow." And I love that we're starting to see that as a companionship.
The Lord gives us so many miracles each day. It's been so humbling to see the things that don't work out and to see the way the Lord makes other things work out. On many occasions this week, we've seen things fall through just to see something else open up. It's hard to recount every instance, but for example: This Friday we went on our first splits! It was such a great experience to watch the members that we both went with testify of the blessings of baptism, the gospel of Jesus Christ, as well as the blessings we see through family scripture study & prayer. Having a member in lessons is such a blessing! But interestingly enough, we'd had a lesson scheduled that night during the time we spent during our split. If we had gone to the lesson that fell through, who knows what things would have been denied the people we taught, who so needed the message we had to bring?
It's been a miraculous week, for sure. Through our increased efforts, and through the grace of our Savior, we scheduled return appointments with five people. Five new investigators!
The cute cocker spaniel that we got to hang out with at dinner this week :)
This is us and Sister Weibling! She let us wear her aprons for dinner because she didn't want us to get spaghetti on our white shirts! (Later, she MADE US OUR OWN APRONS! We'll have to take a picture and send them soon!)
Our district leaders live above our apartment. We have a little bucket system where they lower down this Halloween bucket when they want to send us candy or food or pamphlets and supplies that we run out of. We have a lot of fun with the elders! :)
Elder Clarkson bringing up the bucket!
These stoplights are ALL OVER Pasco. Not necessarily in our area, but when we have to find people in the YSA in different parts of Pasco! Weirdest stoplights ever.
What a great week! The Lord blessed us with five scheduled return appointments with five new investigators as we've contacted our referrals and worked harder in our efforts to open our mouths as we knock and look for people to teach. I went on my first split and exchange this week. Both great and exciting experiences!
For those who don't know, to go on a split means that between the two of us in our companionship, and two members that we invite to come to lessons with us, go to two appointments at the same time, but with each member. (Any questions?) I'll talk a little more about my splits later. To go on an exchange means to temporarily trade companions with the leaders in your zone— or the Sister Training Leaders (STLs), in our case. Our STLs are in Kennewick, and I got to go to Kennewick while the Sister from Kennewick came to be with my companion. Between the four of us, we had a productive and SUPER FUN day! Because of lack of time, I'll send you what I wrote to my mission president today to let you know what's been going on!
LOVE YOU ALL!
Sister Nielsen
President Ware!
This week has been such a blessing. I've been feeling so much better about being on my mission. That's not to say that I never felt good about it, but as a new missionary, I was having a hard time adjusting. I missed home, I was doubting myself as a missionary and my abilities, and as a result, I was really critical toward my companion and questioned a lot of what she taught me. But I have been so humbled and so blessed to have overcome a lot of the obstacles I've been facing by being able to see the error of my ways. Truly, the Savior was called to earth to teach his gospel and give us the way. It's been amazing to me to see his counsel bless my life.
In the New Testament he teaches, "Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you." This has been so helpful in my relationship with my companion. Now, it must be understood: I have never and do not see my companion as my enemy. Have I misunderstood her criticism? Have I murmured against her counsel? Yes. And it was me that was in the wrong. Is my companion perfect? No. And neither am I. But when I wasn't seeing clearly and I felt picked on and alone, I began to pray for her. I trusted that she was probably and more than likely going through hard things, too. Yeah, I'm a new missionary. Yeah, I can get pretty homesick. Yeah, I don't always believe I'm a good teacher or that I have anything to say that's going to bless these people, but my companion is probably going through the EXACT SAME THINGS that I'm going through. Only worse! Imagine being a trainer and taking on so much responsibility. Imagine knowing that, as a missionary's first trainer, that much of what you teach her will carry through her whole mission. Imagine knowing that you're not perfect and praying every night that your weaknesses and imperfections won't carry through that missionary's whole mission.
As I prayed for my companion, I started to see things from her perspective, and I started to have a desire to serve her and lift her up instead of being so critical and expecting so much of her. As I started to exercise the Savior's teachings, I started to see our relationship improve, and that means the world to me. We've started to trust each other and we're starting to have a TON of fun together. Not only that, but we've started to work so much harder and we're starting to reach and exceed our goals. We're starting. You know? And I think that's the key in any relationship: starting to improve together. Working harder and harder each day and repenting and trying. President Monson said, "Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.'" And that's the doctrine of Christ. Having faith to know that we can repent each day. Enduring to the end is to "try again tomorrow." And I love that we're starting to see that as a companionship.
The Lord gives us so many miracles each day. It's been so humbling to see the things that don't work out and to see the way the Lord makes other things work out. On many occasions this week, we've seen things fall through just to see something else open up. It's hard to recount every instance, but for example: This Friday we went on our first splits! It was such a great experience to watch the members that we both went with testify of the blessings of baptism, the gospel of Jesus Christ, as well as the blessings we see through family scripture study & prayer. Having a member in lessons is such a blessing! But interestingly enough, we'd had a lesson scheduled that night during the time we spent during our split. If we had gone to the lesson that fell through, who knows what things would have been denied the people we taught, who so needed the message we had to bring?
It's been a miraculous week, for sure. Through our increased efforts, and through the grace of our Savior, we scheduled return appointments with five people. Five new investigators!
- Milo and Sammy have been taught by the sisters (and elders) in this area before. They invited us to come back and start teaching them again when we found them home one day this week. They've set a marriage date for July 4, and are excited to work toward getting married and being baptized. Sammy is still looking for a lot of answers about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. When we met with them yesterday, we bore testimony of the power that scripture study plays in helping us find our answers and challenged her to read her Book of Mormon and study it out through prayer. Milo is working with his stake president and bishop to get ready to be re-baptized.
- Angie was a referral from the Weiblings in the 1st Ward. Sister Moetala was able to take Sister Allred with her to contact the referral and they had a lesson about the Restoration on her doorstep and scheduled a return appointment for this Thursday.
- We taught Dianela about the Restoration on her doorstep yesterday! We knocked into her husband Javier while tracting, this week, and he asked us to come back Sunday for a return appointment. When we came over yesterday, Dianela answered the door (since Javier was out fishing... apparently he forgot about us! Haha.) She and her family are starting to go back to church, and she was very open and receptive to everything we taught! We gave her the Restoration pamphlet and left her with un Libro de Mormon (a Spanish Book of Mormon) and an invitation to read the Introduction and 3 Nephi 11. We have a return appointment with her on May 4.
- We found Heidi when we contacted a referral from the 1st Ward. Her mom's neighbor was the referral, but we knocked into her mom's house (to discover that Heidi's mom doesn't speak English), and got to talk to Heidi while she was visiting her mom. We started talking about the Restoration and asked if we could come back to teach more. Heidi seemed very receptive! She asked us to come visit her house in the 10th Ward on Friday, and Sister Moetala was able to go on splits with a member from the 10th Ward. They had a GREAT lesson! The member, Sister Yaunt, was so helpful in the lesson. They invited her to be baptized and she wanted to pray about when she should be baptized. We have a return appointment with her this Friday (or next Friday? I'm not quite sure right now).
The cute cocker spaniel that we got to hang out with at dinner this week :)
This is us and Sister Weibling! She let us wear her aprons for dinner because she didn't want us to get spaghetti on our white shirts! (Later, she MADE US OUR OWN APRONS! We'll have to take a picture and send them soon!)
Our district leaders live above our apartment. We have a little bucket system where they lower down this Halloween bucket when they want to send us candy or food or pamphlets and supplies that we run out of. We have a lot of fun with the elders! :)
Elder Clarkson bringing up the bucket!
These stoplights are ALL OVER Pasco. Not necessarily in our area, but when we have to find people in the YSA in different parts of Pasco! Weirdest stoplights ever.
Oh, How Great The Goodness of Our God!
Sorry to be late in posting this. I've been way busy.
~Lisa
Monday, April 20, 2015
Hello, everyone!
It's been a greeaat week! I'm learning to love the mission and the people so, so much! I'm amazed each day by the things I'm able to learn. I overcame a few obstacles this week as well, and I'm continually inspired by the love our Heavenly Father has for us. I love that he sent us here knowing full well that we would make mistakes. How great is his wisdom that he provided for us a way to overcome our imperfections and mistakes! Jesus Christ's Atonement and grace make it possible for us to learn and to grow. If we put our trust in him, he truly blesses us with abilities beyond our own.
One example of this happened at the end of our week. Our district leaders called us to ask for our OYM ("open your mouth") totals. This has been something that I had a hard time with, and the numbers we reported weren't... um... very good. Haha! As a result of this, our district leaders gave us an assignment to read D&C 85:6 and invited us to ponder what we can do to improve our efforts and to set a goal that will make us stretch. I certainly didn't know what to expect, but what we discovered exceeded my expectations. The scripture says, "Yea, thus saith the still small voice, which whispereth through and pierceth all things, and often times it maketh my bones to quake..."
For me, that scripture poignantly described what the Spirit feels like when it prompts you to do something right. It was a huuuge tool in helping me to understand how we could tell what exactly goal we needed to set as a companionship, and we committed to shoot for 10 OYMs daily. The next day, we hit 11 and had great conversations with people— a lot of which I was able to initiate. Me. Someone who was SO afraid to open my mouth! But as I took that leap of faith, I could feel strength beyond my own. As it promises in D&C 88:3, "Open your mouths, and they shall be filled." As I've been preparing myself with the knowledge of the scriptures and the prophets, and especially with what's taught in our pamphlets, I've been able to remember them when I open my mouth. And the conversations I'm able to have, honestly, don't even feel real. Sometimes, in my head, I look around and try to figure out who was teaching all of those things! What a great promise! God's grace really does lift us up past our own abilities, and I know that as we exercise faith in him and the promises he makes us through our obedience, we are truly, truly blessed!
Another example was something else about missionary work that intimidated me entirely too much for my liking. We took one of our part-member-family investigators, Tim, with his family to the church for a church tour. He's been going to church for yeears, but we were hoping that perhaps the Spirit in the building would be able to help him understand the faith he already has and that we could help him understand a little more some of the things he's already been doing in church for so long. I don't know if we did exactly what we set out to do, but we testified and testified about how church helps us find answers. We were able to explain a little more about the significance of the sacrament and invited him to pay closer attention to the sacrament prayers.
We took him afterward to the baptismal font and explained that the purpose of baptism is to follow Jesus Christ's example so we can return to live with our Heavenly Father. We asked him if this was something he wanted and he said it was. We afterwards invited him to be baptized. (Or, well, you know, I might've choked down my fears and managed to let a baptismal invite fall out of my mouth.) The Spirit was so strong and the faith I was filled with was an overwhelming feeling. He accepted the invitation, but wasn't willing to set a date. He said he still doesn't know if Heavenly Father has a plan for him, and he wants to know for himself before he's baptized. We're praying and praying to know how we can help him. I was overwhelmed, again, by how the Spirit was able to help me do something that I didn't think I had the strength or courage to do on my own. How great the goodness of our God! My success, our success, truly comes from him!
I know that he can bring us up to places we cannot go on our own. I'm so grateful to be his missionary. What an honor! What a blessing! I know this gospel is true. Our Heavenly Father is real, and he loves us! His plan for our happiness and salvation truly is the way to return to be with him. What a glorious thought: to be with him! He has made it all possible through the atoning sacrifice of his son. As we follow Jesus Christ's example and keep his commandments, acting in faith and trusting his will, we are truly, wonderfully, and overwhelmingly blessed.
This gospel is true!
Sister Melanie Nielsen
P.S. Please keep Tim in your prayers, and pray that we can know how to help him. Thank you.
This is a family we had dinner with. The McLaughlins were so great to let us share our experiences with them and to testify of the Lord's hand in our lives. What a great family of missionaries— past, present, and future!
~Lisa
Monday, April 20, 2015
Hello, everyone!
It's been a greeaat week! I'm learning to love the mission and the people so, so much! I'm amazed each day by the things I'm able to learn. I overcame a few obstacles this week as well, and I'm continually inspired by the love our Heavenly Father has for us. I love that he sent us here knowing full well that we would make mistakes. How great is his wisdom that he provided for us a way to overcome our imperfections and mistakes! Jesus Christ's Atonement and grace make it possible for us to learn and to grow. If we put our trust in him, he truly blesses us with abilities beyond our own.
One example of this happened at the end of our week. Our district leaders called us to ask for our OYM ("open your mouth") totals. This has been something that I had a hard time with, and the numbers we reported weren't... um... very good. Haha! As a result of this, our district leaders gave us an assignment to read D&C 85:6 and invited us to ponder what we can do to improve our efforts and to set a goal that will make us stretch. I certainly didn't know what to expect, but what we discovered exceeded my expectations. The scripture says, "Yea, thus saith the still small voice, which whispereth through and pierceth all things, and often times it maketh my bones to quake..."
For me, that scripture poignantly described what the Spirit feels like when it prompts you to do something right. It was a huuuge tool in helping me to understand how we could tell what exactly goal we needed to set as a companionship, and we committed to shoot for 10 OYMs daily. The next day, we hit 11 and had great conversations with people— a lot of which I was able to initiate. Me. Someone who was SO afraid to open my mouth! But as I took that leap of faith, I could feel strength beyond my own. As it promises in D&C 88:3, "Open your mouths, and they shall be filled." As I've been preparing myself with the knowledge of the scriptures and the prophets, and especially with what's taught in our pamphlets, I've been able to remember them when I open my mouth. And the conversations I'm able to have, honestly, don't even feel real. Sometimes, in my head, I look around and try to figure out who was teaching all of those things! What a great promise! God's grace really does lift us up past our own abilities, and I know that as we exercise faith in him and the promises he makes us through our obedience, we are truly, truly blessed!
Another example was something else about missionary work that intimidated me entirely too much for my liking. We took one of our part-member-family investigators, Tim, with his family to the church for a church tour. He's been going to church for yeears, but we were hoping that perhaps the Spirit in the building would be able to help him understand the faith he already has and that we could help him understand a little more some of the things he's already been doing in church for so long. I don't know if we did exactly what we set out to do, but we testified and testified about how church helps us find answers. We were able to explain a little more about the significance of the sacrament and invited him to pay closer attention to the sacrament prayers.
We took him afterward to the baptismal font and explained that the purpose of baptism is to follow Jesus Christ's example so we can return to live with our Heavenly Father. We asked him if this was something he wanted and he said it was. We afterwards invited him to be baptized. (Or, well, you know, I might've choked down my fears and managed to let a baptismal invite fall out of my mouth.) The Spirit was so strong and the faith I was filled with was an overwhelming feeling. He accepted the invitation, but wasn't willing to set a date. He said he still doesn't know if Heavenly Father has a plan for him, and he wants to know for himself before he's baptized. We're praying and praying to know how we can help him. I was overwhelmed, again, by how the Spirit was able to help me do something that I didn't think I had the strength or courage to do on my own. How great the goodness of our God! My success, our success, truly comes from him!
I know that he can bring us up to places we cannot go on our own. I'm so grateful to be his missionary. What an honor! What a blessing! I know this gospel is true. Our Heavenly Father is real, and he loves us! His plan for our happiness and salvation truly is the way to return to be with him. What a glorious thought: to be with him! He has made it all possible through the atoning sacrifice of his son. As we follow Jesus Christ's example and keep his commandments, acting in faith and trusting his will, we are truly, wonderfully, and overwhelmingly blessed.
This gospel is true!
Sister Melanie Nielsen
P.S. Please keep Tim in your prayers, and pray that we can know how to help him. Thank you.
This is a family we had dinner with. The McLaughlins were so great to let us share our experiences with them and to testify of the Lord's hand in our lives. What a great family of missionaries— past, present, and future!
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