Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things

Monday, September 28, 2015
This week has been a great week! The Lord truly gives us tender mercies in the midst of emotional trauma! Haha. My companion and I are working through the undue pressure I've been giving myself as a trainer. I'm grateful that the Lord gives us experiences that teach us. I loved what someone in our ward said about the Atonement yesterday. "I was tired of trying to carry it all, fix it all, and do it myself. That's when I let the Savior take over." I'm not a perfect trainer. I don't have all the answers. I'm not always the best example, but my Savior was. My Savior does, and my Savior is. I love that experiences like this are teaching me to rely on him. I think that's precisely why Heavenly Father made me a trainer when he did. He knew I would need to rely on him because I wouldn't know what else to do!

We are hunting, and digging, and scratching to find someone we can prepare for baptism! The Lord really wants me to be a finder, I suppose. We taught a former investigator named Nick this week. His wife died about a year and a half ago, and he is still really torn up about it. He talks about it like he's "merely the shell of a man— without a soul— and all you see is façade." My new companion did a wonderful job testifying of the reality of the Plan of Salvation our Heavenly Father has restored a full knowledge of, and together we bore testimony of his Heavenly Father's love and the power of his Savior's Atonement to heal all wounds. Unfortunately, Nick is pretty set that he will never be able to believe that again, without some physical proof the Savior's reality. As tangible as the Spirit we tried to bring might have been, Nick's heart is not quite prepared. Which is funny because I've been studying about Laman and Lemuel in the Book of Mormon lately, and they saw SO many signs. They were constantly given evidence of the reality of our God, but their hearts were too hard, and it ultimately led to their own personal apostasy.

Yea, there are many who do say: If thou wilt show unto us a sign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shall believe. Now I ask, is this faith? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for if a man knoweth a thing he hath no cause to believe, for he knoweth it. ... And now as I said concerning faith— faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true. ... Now, as I said concerning faith—that it was not a perfect knowledge—even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge. But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words. (Alma 32:17-18, 21, 26-27)

It's through an exercise of faith that we gain a perfect knowledge! And I know this is truth. I have seen it. It makes me sad that Nick isn't ready for that, but with faith on my part, I know the Lord will prepare him.
We're also teaching a guy named Ed B. He is a hoot! The first time we met him, we talked for like an hour in front of his car about Jesus Christ, Christianity, and the Book of Mormon. We've been meeting with him about every week with our ward mission leader, and I am so grateful Brother Johnson comes to those lessons. It's a struggle to teach people who already have such a solid and firm belief in Jesus Christ, and Brother Johnson really is so much help in helping us simply answer some of those deeper doctrine questions that Ed has. We're here to teach doctrine simply, Ed! Come on! ;)

We've invited him to baptism a couple of times, but I think we'll just have to emphasize priesthood restored because he's still convinced his pastor had authority to baptize him (and it sometimes makes me wish that he did, you know?). I guess Heavenly Father is just going to need me to be super learned on all things Apostasy by the time I'm finished serving my mission because I just can't seem to get enough of it in my studies. I want to know why there was a need for a restoration of Christ's church, you know? Especially if all the people I'm teaching need to know why as well.

That's currently the only progressing investigator we have. Which seems to happen to me a lot. Actually, that happened with Gary, and he got baptized this weekend. So there's hope! :)

SPEAKING OF GARY... PICTURES!


L-R: Elders Williamson and Knutson, the missionaries who taught him after Sister T and me; Brother Gary M., Sister M., me, and my companion!

Oh, my word. Gary's story is so great. I just love Gary. The Lord seriously prepared Gary so much to be baptized. He started by reading this book about positive thinking, and then it ended up being a book mostly about Jesus Christ (hehe, got him). He had sort of a religious background growing up, but not much. We had met with our bishop, who invited us to go and visit Sister Miller, maybe even hopefully be able to catch Gary at home and invite him to take the lessons. From there, the Spirit took over. We introduced the message of the Restoration to him one day, and before we even knew what was happening, he accepted the invitation to take the lessons. Sister Miller was floored. She had been super active in the church for about five years, and recently went through the temple for herself. She couldn't believe that Gary had accepted our invitation and thanked us profusely.

From there, Gary insisted that he was simply nourishing his desire to learn about the Savior, rather than about the stories. With the help of the Spirit, we taught about the Savior, we showed him "Finding Faith in Christ," and were able to help him understand that this was about his commitment to Jesus Christ. Not about becoming Mormon, not about pleasing the missionaries, not about Sister Miller, but about him and his Savior. From there, he slowly accepted invitations to come on a church tour, then to come to church... and then I got transferred. One thing that always really impressed me about Gary was that he always read the Book of Mormon chapters we left with him. He even went out of town while we were teaching him, and he let us ask him questions and give assignments over text!

From teaching Gary and watching him be baptized (twice... ya gotta do it right, ya know?), I've learned a lot about how important, yet insignificant, our roles as missionaries are. We're simply there to push the process along. It really is all about the Lord. It's about how much he's prepared them. It's about how we bring the Spirit to let him testify of truth. It's about being worthy of that Spirit and direction so that we can help these people understand that THIS is where Heavenly Father wants them; THIS is the answer to all their prayers, all their concerns, all their questions. This truly is the way. The Lord will let you know when they're ready; you just have to have the faith necessary to get them there.

I love the Lord's timing. I'm grateful that he's in charge.

~Sister Nielsen

Rain in Walla Walla :)

Monday, September 21, 2015

Hello, all! Just wanted to send a quick update. Here's what I had to say to my mission president this week. I love, love, love being a missionary! Hope y'all are doing great!

Hi, President Ware!
It's amazing to see the way the Lord strengthens me as a trainer and helps me to be patient, loving, kind, and repentant. Especially the repentant part! I am definitely trying to be the best companion for her, and trying to be a great example. I hope that she will see me repent from my mistakes and do my best to move forward from them. You can't be perfect, but you can be perfectly trying! But even then, I'm not so good. But it's a process, and that is a blessing. I don't realize how well I'm doing until we get to companionship inventory and she tells me all these nice things about how I push her to do hard things and help her to want to work hard and be better. Do you ever wish you could go outside of yourself to see all the good that you really do? :) I think that's what companionship inventory is for.

It's been a good week! One cool thing that happened was on Tuesday. We were walking on our way to an appointment, and we were sharing the sidewalk with someone coming up to us. We got right in front of him and started to get to know him. Ed S. has studied religion most of his life, so he doesn't have much of an interest to "fit [himself] into one of those boxes." But we had a really great conversation about Christ! We asked if we could come over and teach him more, but he declined and told us we'd see him around. We found him again later that night! The Spirit prompted us to knock on a door as we were walking home, and there he was! It was so exciting! We taught him about the Plan of Salvation as we talked about the passing of his wife, and it really seemed to resonate with him. We called him this morning to confirm our return appointment with him, and maybe we shouldn't have because he cancelled. :/ But I always tell Sister Hamblin that I'd rather teach someone when the Lord has finished preparing them, rather than when they're not ready. The Lord provides a way!

Another person of interest this week is Ed B. We met him awhile ago, and have been meeting with him and our ward mission leader. We taught him about the Book of Mormon this week, and it was a really great lesson guided by the Spirit. I always love watching things make sense to people and seeing the Spirit work on them. Ed, or Brother B, as we've taken to calling him, isn't quite ready to commit to a baptismal date. But he is significantly more receptive to reading the Book of Mormon, and I think that's progress. :)

We're excited for the week ahead. I'm grateful that we have the opportunity to improve, grow, and move forward from our imperfections and mistakes. Life is a process, and it's made possible by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. His hand is stretched out still! :)

~Sister Nielsen

Pictures!


My cute companion in the rain! :)


Somewhere over the rainbow, right?


Weekly planning with mi compañera :)


Havin' lunch with the 1st Ward sisters!


A cute pic of downtown Walla Walla


Mi compañera... made curry! :)


I guess we liked the rain.

I got the best missionary to train

Email to the padres

Monday, September 14, 2015
I ran out of time, but I just wanted to share what I wrote President Ware. Love you!

Hello, President Ware!
It was so great to see you yesterday at the missionary training meeting. That was such a great experience. I learned a lot about that chart that was handed out and I am so excited to apply it. What a great opportunity we have to work with the members on this work.

This week has been crazy! I've been amazed at the strength I've been given to be a trainer. I feel so strongly about not letting there be a huge difference in my mind between being a regular missionary and being a trainer. I feel like as long as I'm working hard, doing my very best, and then repenting when I fall short, the rest will take care of itself.

It's been such a blessing to work with Sister Hamblin. I honestly feel like I got the best missionary to train! She is so bold, and she is so willing to teach, role-play, and just jump in. She really learned so much at the MTC and she is applying it. I have been so impressed with how prepared she is. It's hard to notice anything she's struggling with because she's so willing to jump in and do the work in spite of whatever it is that she's having a hard time with. I'd say she's still adjusting, naturally, to being away from family. She's had a hard time with not being able to talk to her friends as often as she wants, but I can see how willing she is to do what the Lord wants her to do. I know that because she's someone who's so in tune with the Spirit, she'll be able to recognize what the Lord tells her of how she can improve.

As far as how am I feeling about all of this... like I said, I've been pretty at peace and confident about it. I've taken a lot of confidence in applying the doctrine of Christ. I'm trying to remember to not get comfortable to the point of slacking off, but I'm so grateful for the Spirit in my studies that taught me this morning to just keep trying. This life is a process, and being a perfect trainer is a process. I can take confidence in trying my best and know that I have a companion who will help me make up the difference, as long as we're relying on the Spirit.

The 12-week program is doing well, as far as I can tell. We went over it a little before the trainer/trainee meeting, and I think that helped her a lot. I'm not really sure what exactly needs to be taught. It's not as specific as I want it to be sometimes! Haha. But I've just been trying to do what comes to my mind and pay attention to how it feels. I'm so grateful for the Spirit! I'm grateful for Preach My Gospel and the training and study materials we have. She really likes training as well. It's been an interesting week full of meetings and not being able to finish weekly planning, and it's cute to hear her say, "We need to do training!" Haha. I just remember not being as willing to do training, and I am constantly impressed by Sister Hamblin's desire. She really is training me, President!

So I'm in good Spirits. I can continually feel the Lord strengthen me.

***

I'm so grateful for my new companion! She is so ready to serve the Lord. I think that's been the greatest miracle of all this week. She isn't afraid to talk to people, and she's willing to rely on the Lord to gain more confidence to do his work. The miracle as well is that the Lord has given me strength to lead and to train. I couldn't ask for more than that. I'm grateful for a new week with more time to go find people to teach! I'm grateful that Sister Hamblin is excited for that as well.

~Sister Nielsen

Q&A: Walla Walla edition

Monday, September 7, 2015

Okay, Q&A time. (I'm writing back now because my temporary companion— until I get my new one on Wednesday— still needs to email and I have half an hour left.)

1. How big is Walla Walla? How far is it from Pasco? Walla Walla has about 30,000 people. It's an hour's drive southeast from Pasco.
2. Where did the name come from? According to the elders' quorum president in 1st Ward, "Walla" is Native American (dunno which tribe) for "water." "Walla Walla" means "many waters." Apparently there was quite a bit of water around here back in the day, but not so much anymore. There are a few creeks here and there, and there's one called Mill Creek that runs through downtown. But otherwise, not a lot of water. At least not like Tri-Cities. Walla Walla was apparently also the first town in Washington— or something along those lines.
3. What do people there do for a living (major employers for the area)? Again, according to our elders' quorum president, most people are either in the medical field— a lot of doctors, dentists, etc.— or they're in agriculture. That's pretty typical for our mission. (At least it was in Pasco and now here in Walla Walla.) From there, there's a lot of people who work at the penitentiary (we have a prison in Walla Walla) or in law enforcement in general. But everyone I meet usually just tells me they've got some typical job. Nothing too unusual. There's a lot of mom-and-pop shops in downtown Walla Walla. Nothing too... mainstream, if you will.
4. Who is your companion? Where is she from? How long has she been on her mission/in the area? My companion that just left for Tri-Cities to go home tomorrow is Sister Brinker. She's from Murray. And well, she just left today, so she's been out 18 months. Haha! She was in our area for 6 months.
5. Tell us about some of the members, like if they have cool conversion stories or how they ended up in Walla Walla. Members! There are so many great members here! It seems like everyone I meet always reminds me of someone back home. Our elders' quorum president, the one who gave me all the info, is Brother Shiffler. He's always really good to help us with little trivia things we need to know, or little mundane favors we ask of him. He's always quick to bring us lunch/dinner. Just yesterday we were having a lesson with a (formerly) former investigator, and apparently Brother Shiffler was just driving by the park where we were and decided to drop in on our lesson and bear some bomb testimony about what we were teaching and totally helped this guy find a friend in the ward. Just, whatever. Haha! He has a daughter on her mission in Argentina and he's got a son who's leaving for Las Vegas in October. I'm not sure about his conversion story, but he's been in Walla Walla for a little under 5 years, or something like that. He's just really cool and helps us out a ton. Brother Humpherys is our ward mission leader in WW 1st Ward. He reminds me of Grandpa so much. Always teasing, always making mean jokes that you know he's kidding about. Sandra and Jose were baptized my first week in Walla Walla. Jose came across this guy who calls himself "The Walla Walla Jesus" (look it up... it's a crazy story!) who gave him a triple combination and said, "Read this, it'll change your life." And then the sisters came by and met him, started teaching him, and Sandra soon afterward started the lessons with them as well. They've been involved in drugs and gangs, but they are super, super converted to the Gospel. It's so awesome. Her kids are always telling her that they see a positive change in the way that she is a mom, and you can just see the difference. Brother Shiffler saw them at the bus stop one time, and said they just stood out because they were glowing. Sandra and Jose are so solid. They love the Gospel and they tell us each week about all the things that happen to them that just solidify their testimony. There are so many people here with really, really cool conversion stories, actually, now that I think about it. It's hard to pick just one!
6. What is/are the ward or wards like? Our wards are really great and really supportive! We're losing the 1st Ward to a new set of sisters, but the 3rd Ward is so great. I feel like we do all the work in 1st Ward and we're getting more investigators in 3rd... so it's kind of a weird thing. Random tangent. I'm not sure what that question is aimed at. What do you want to know?
7. Have you eaten a Walla Walla onion yet? Are the onions a big deal there or are the locals "whatever" about them? I haven't eaten a Walla Walla sweet onion yet. They are a little bit of a big deal, but it depends on who you talk to. Most everyone loves them. Fortunately, it's not something that they plaster all over town or anything, but they're pretty famous.

~Sister Nielsen

I'm TRAAAIININGGGG!

From an email to the family...

Monday, September 7, 2015
I've been talking to the Lord about it this whole transfer. It's so funny how he works!

The other day before I got the news, I was trying to take a nap during our lunch hour, and I was in the state of the sleep cycle where you're almost asleep and you start having a dream. You know what I mean? And all of the sudden, I was having a conversation with President Ware— about what, I'm not sure now. But the conversation turned to a phone call, and suddenly President said, "Sister Nielsen, we want you to train this transfer." Then I bolted awake, and then I knew. Three days later, the call came.

I'm so grateful for the confidence my mission president has in me to train, and I'm grateful for the confidence the Lord has in me. But I'm gonna need a lot of help. :) I am excited, though. I know it's going to be great. Just wanted to share that. I love you all so much.

~Sister Nielsen

Training Sister Nielsen

Monday, September 7, 2015

Well! This week has been a whirlwind, to say the least. I love, love, love being a missionary. When I checked my email today, I found out that Gary, one of my investigators from Pasco, is getting baptized!

[Here she inserted a bunch of emojis that of course Blogger can't do.]

His wife is a member, and I just remember being so grateful for the Spirit in guiding us to talk with the bishop, who counseled us to go and visit Gary's wife, and the way it guided us in our lessons with him while we were there. The Lord is merciful and truly sets forth his miracles in his own time! Alma 13:24 stands out to me in light of the news of today...

For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory.

Truly the Lord is preparing the hearts of his children for this marvelous message. My heart is full! :)

In other news, this week has been a good one. My dear companion goes home this week! It's bittersweet, but I know she'll be great at home and will so love to be with her family.

We met eight people this week who agreed to let us come back and teach them more. It's always so exciting to act on promptings you receive to talk to people and to see those bring success. One of those was a man named Ed. He was working on his car, and that's normally a really awkward situation to just go up and talk to someone, but the Lord strengthened us and we talked to Ed for about an hour about Christianity and the Book of Mormon. He said he had read the Book of Mormon before and we invited him to read it again. He accepted our copy and agreed to meet with us this week. We went by a few days ago and confirmed our appointment. :)

Another of those was a referral from LDS.org. When we got the Ash family's house, apparently they hadn't even requested a Bible and Book of Mormon, but they were gracious enough to let us sit down. They asked a lot of questions about what we believed, we answered a lot of questions about the Book of Mormon as a testament, modern prophets, and invited them to come to know of its truth for themselves. They agreed to read from the Book of Mormon (and told us on the phone today that they'd been reading it!) and, though they cancelled our appointment for tomorrow, they agreed to reschedule with the new sisters. And we got a free watermelon from them! So all these things are good!

Speaking of the new sisters, our mission is getting 29 new missionaries tomorrow! Let's just say that's more than we have leaving, and our newly divided little mission has been creating new areas for all the people who'll be coming in. Walla Walla 1st and 3rd wards, which we're currently covering, will be divided. The 1st Ward will be getting a new set of sisters, and me and my new companion— fresh from the MTC— will be in the Walla Walla 3rd Ward.

Yeah, you read that right. Sister Nielsen is training this transfer. Watch out, Washington. I am humbled and excited for the opportunity! I know the Lord sees so much potential in me, and has definitely prepared me for it this transfer. I know the Lord will help me, and her, to be successful and to learn and grow from each other. It's gonna be good, I know it!

That's about all I have time for this week. The Gospel is SO TRUE! It's such great news. I LOVE IT.

~Sister Nielsen

Pictures!


This is from exchanges last week. Sister Johnson is a super qualified sister training leader. It was so great to be her companion.


Sister Brinker and me out to lunch at my favorite sandwich place, Graze


Sister Brinker and me with Sister Anderson, our favorite 1st Ward adventurer :)


Sister Allred, Sister Brinker, me, and Sister Johnson in Pendelton, Oregon, getting our companions back. :) (Sister Allred and Sister Johnson are our sister training leaders and are actually training different sisters who are not pictured.)