This Week in Walla Walla

Monday, August 10, 2015

Hey, all! Here's my week!

I would say this week has been a week for applying the Doctrine of Christ. (Not that every week isn't like that.) It's felt like I'm still adjusting to being here. I really should give myself more credit because it's only been two weeks, and not even that yet. I'm still getting used to a new area and a new companion and to not training anymore. I have a lot of confidence in my ability to adjust with time and the Lord's hand. I keep praying that my weaknesses won't get in the way, even when my companion and I seem to have the same weaknesses.

As I'm writing, I am just thinking about my week and how much I've hoped to not be the companion that builds us up and how much I so wish I didn't have to be the outgoing and driven one— especially when I get so scared sometimes that I don't want to be outgoing or driven. But the Spirit is whispering to me, "You don't have to be the senior companion. Leave it up to me." I want to use my time wisely. I want to work hard and exhaust myself in His service.

I do have to say, though, we picked up four new investigators, and were able to put two on date— Lilian and a lady we met at the park named Stephanie. We have an appointment with both of them today, but Lilian cancelled and told us she was in the hospital! (What in the world?!) She hasn't told us why yet. She said she would come to church this weekend. Meeting Stephanie was a really cool experience, too! We have been in love with the park we found her at ever since we thought to go there one night and met someone we referred to the 2nd Ward elders. Stephanie was there with her parents, and I was having a hard time letting myself go talk to them, but thank goodness my companion bucked up the courage to go over and talk to her. She and her parents were so open to talk to us, and even though we had an appointment we had to run to, they were so willing to let us come back to the park when we were done to talk to them some more. We taught them the whole Restoration pamphlet when we came back, and she was open and interested to learn more! And she accepted the invitation to be baptized on Sept. 5! We're excited to meet with her at 7:00 today.

Another great experience we had was being able to run into Sandra and Jose yesterday while we were trying by some former investigators from the area book. We saw them outside and went to go see how they were, since they'd told us that their best friend and his girlfriend were killed this last week. But it was a great conversation as she told us how much peace and comfort being a member of the church has helped her have, in spite of all she's going through. They pray together and are taking confidence in the Lord's ability to guide them through their hard time. Isn't the Gospel such a blessing?! We asked our Elders Quorum president, Brother Shiffler (who is fellowshipping them) if he'd find a way to go over today to give their house a blessing. We'll need to follow up and see how things went.

In spite of my insecurities about my weaknesses and the awkwardness of adjusting, I'd say things are going well. The greatest miracle of all is that we have people that we're focusing on, in spite of baptizing everyone in our teaching pool recently. The Lord is working miracles in spite of my weaknesses. I hope that I can strive to live each day without regrets, but I know that the Lord can take those from me, too, and make everything work for the best.

I love this work.

~Sister Nielsen

Pictures!


When you're going to try by the families the bishop told you to, and the directions someone gave you put you in the middle of nowhere. (Thankfully some dogs came out from the house we were going to and showed us the way back.)


#missionaryhumor

Welcome to Walla Walla, Washington!

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Hey, all!
Sorry it's been a few weeks! It's been a crazy couple of weeks! I just got transferred to a new area— Walla Walla, Washington ("The place so good they named it twice.") It's been an incredible week. I'm short on time, so I'll send you my letter to my mission president. Love you all!

This week has been a roller coaster of emotions! Adjusting to Walla Walla has been a struggle, but going to the temple today was exactly what I needed! The Lord poured down revelation during the session and in the celestial room. I know I can always count on the way that I feel in the temple in the midst of all the emotions of my weeks.

Truthfully, I love Walla Walla. I loved it so much from the moment I got here. It really has been such a blessing of an area. It's been truly a testimony and a strength to come into the area where the sisters worked so hard to prepare Sandra, Jose, and Rebecca to be baptized, and to watch their faith strengthened through making that decision has made me ponder so much the depth and reality of the blessings the Lord promises as we make and keep covenants with him. This is THE path. This is THE way. Wow! How great is our calling!

I've also really enjoyed being able to get out of the house before noon, now that I'm not training anymore! It's amazing how much more you catch the fire in the work as you spend even more time doing it. My companion is such a sweetheart. We love to work hard and we know when to have fun. I'm so grateful I can be open with her, and I pray she'll feel that she can be open with me. We said a companionship prayer in the celestial room, and I think that was something that really made her day. (Or maybe just the temple in general!) I so much appreciate the way she's able to teach doctrine simply, and she helps me overcome my fears and reach my goals. I know that she and I will be able to work through the things we're going through in a smooth way. She's such a blessing. And we only get to be together for a transfer! :(

How do you share one miracle in a week full of them?

1. Our first day tracting together, we knocked into a lady named Debra. It was such a surreal experience talking to her and watching her be so receptive and willing to listen. She was excited for us to come back, but said she'd be busy until October. (We're hoping to get in with her sooner than that.)
2. Three baptisms in one day! I said it earlier, but I'm so grateful I got to come into an area where the Lord had prepared these people and strengthened their testimonies to where they felt ready to make this commitment to the Lord. It had me thinking so much about the Doctrine of Christ and how important faith, repentance, baptism— or renewing our covenant through the sacrament— and the Holy Ghost really are. When I talked to Sandra and Rebecca about how they felt after their baptism, they said things like, "Awesome!" and "Clean!" Can you imagine that? To feel clean? And we get an opportunity to feel just that every week as we renew our covenants through the sacrament. What a blessing! What a miracle! It was so much motivation to me, to really not take that important meeting for granted each week.

More miracles, but no time. I'm so grateful for the Spirit in this work!

~Sister Nielsen

PICTURES!


A picture with the Frederick family in Pasco before the transfer. Love those guys!


When your investigator has a pet pig, you'd better get on taking a picture with it. Just saying.


At the mission home with Sister Tuigamala! :( It's hard to believe the mission ends sometimes, but I know she'll be the best RM yet. #companionlove


When you send your companion home, so you get to be in a trio until your transfer. :)


When Gary came to church! YAAY!


Welcome to Walla Walla!


My new companion and me at the temple today!


My new district!


The temple! ❤


Sandra and Jose at their baptism this weekend


Our district from last transfer #pasconorthzone #districtzone


#beststreet #WallaWallaRepresent


It's like this town knows me.

The next few are from an airshow a couple weeks ago (when I was still in Tri-Cities) and I thought of my BIL Bradley, of course! Hopefully these are some good pictures! I tried.

I Can Do Hard Things

Monday, July 20, 2015

Email to Lisa

Whoa! Bradley's the bishop!! That is so crazy! And you're the bishop's wife! That is just super cool. I'm so happy for y'all! Give Bradley my best and my congratulations! ❤

Things have improved since last week, or maybe it's just my perspective. :) Our mission president sent us a letter last week, asking us to start a 40-day fast from distractions and to talk with everyone we see, no matter how awkward or inconvenient. That's given us a little more courage. I'm doing my best to do what the Lord prompts and nudges me to do, no matter the sacrifice and no matter how hard.

Something significant I've learned recently out on my mission is more of a confirmation really that God truly is our loving Heavenly Father. He gives us commandments for our benefit. He gives us hard things because we'll grow from them and become the people we're trying to become in the first place. Sometimes I feel like a little kid with my relationship with Heavenly Father— I.E., "Daddy doesn't love me because he did this to me." Not that I've ever truly doubted his love, but it's really resonated with me that he asks hard things because he loves us. He truly, truly does. Be still. Know that I am God. Everything works out for the best when we trust him.

One other thing is how important it is to keep the Spirit and how sensitive it really is. My companion pointed this out in a lesson, and she mentioned how we as missionaries repent a lot. :) And it's because the Spirit really is so crucial and so vital in the work that we can't afford to go a minute without it. I keep thinking about how important the Spirit is for non-missionaries— for obvious reasons, though. But I'd never really thought about what an important role repentance plays. I've heard that you really ought to be repenting every day, and it's stood out to me now, more than ever, how important that is. The Spirit is what helps us become who the Lord wants us to be, and ultimately who we're striving to become anyway. We are not perfect, but repentance is a real power, and the Spirit that comes from it is crucial for survival in mortality and especially the world we live in today.

I'm so grateful for those things that invite the Spirit. Prayer is powerful. The scriptures are wonderful! Church is so important for helping us to feel the Spirit, renew our promises, and learn how we can be better. The Spirit is so important, and being worthy of it is even more important! I'm continually praying to be worthy of it, here in my work.

Maren is looking SO CUTE as always! Give her a big hug! Tell her to stop growing so quickly!

Love you!

Sister Nielsen

Somewhere He Opens A Window... Eventually

Monday, July 13, 2015

Hey, all! Sorry I don't have a lot of time today. We have a lot to do for P-day and not a lot of time. I know y'all hate it when I do this, but I wanted to send you an update. It'll be copy/pasted (and mildly edited) from my letter to my mission president.

President Ware,

Admittedly, I've been pretty discouraged the last couple of days. I know that success isn't measured outwardly, but sometimes it's hard when you feel like you're giving it your all and the key indicators don't show it. I couldn't have a better companion, though. Seriously, my companion is the most awesome companion, President. When we were emailing at the library earlier, she was teaching the girl sitting next to us, just because you told us in the letter to talk to everyone! Who would think to do that, you know? Just strike up a conversation with the girl! She trusts that obedience will bring blessings, and she automatically wants to do anything she's counseled to do by our leaders. She is the most incredible example to me.

The other day we were having a really hard time and everything had fallen through and no one wanted to give us two seconds, and it was so hot. But my companion turns to me and says, "Hey. Let's play a game. It's called 'What I love about being a missionary.' You ready?" And, as you can imagine, the Spirit was strong as we listed off the best parts about the work. To transition from being soooo discouraged to feeling so good about what I was doing almost brought me to tears. She really does so much for me and my faith, and she's always good to point out the positives.

I feel like the last two transfers have been really great. We work hard. I am not perfect, though, and I see that more and more every day, but I know what with the Lord, I can do hard things. I would say, though, that in spite of my discouragement, things are going well. It's hard to see practically every person we're teaching drop us or avoid us, but there are little miracles here and there.

Yesterday my companion and I had dinner at this family's home where their oldest son has been struggling with his testimony, but as we started to share our testimonies at dinner, he gave us this look like maybe he had felt something and maybe he believed what we were saying! It was so wonderful to see, President. I love that we take such priority in making our dinners a spiritual experience. I'm grateful for my companion, who is always so quick to share a scripture or talk to someone.

We had another cool experience with something that my companion also initiated. It was kind of a bummer at first because we had gone to contact a new investigator, and she didn't act very interested. But on our way back to the car, we saw someone going out to their car. For me, I didn't really think to go talk to him— and I want to improve on that. But my companion went right over and started talking to him. After awhile, we got to know that he had a strong, strong faith in Jesus Christ. He also related to us an experience he had where he was taken up, in a vision, and the Savior offered him a cup to drink from and offered some counsel that he couldn't understand. As he drank from the cup, he awoke from his vision. Then he told us, "I've made it my life's mission to find out what Jesus said to me, and I feel like it's something I need to share with the world."

The Spirit was so strong, and I felt a distinct impression to bear witness of the restored gospel. I opened my mouth and words flowed. I bore witness that our message would help him find out what the Savior had said to him, and that he would not be disappointed. The Spirit softened his heart so much, and he gladly accepted a restoration pamphlet and Book of Mormon. Then we referred him over to the Pasco 3rd and 8th sisters because we were doing some YSA work in that area, and he is married. I feel like a lot of our work turns out to be for other missionaries, but... same team, right?

I'm trying really hard to do my best out here, President. I hope I'm not letting the Lord down. Thank you for the wise counsel you always give us to help us be the best missionaries we can be.

--

"The Gospel's True, Folks!"
Sister Melanie Nielsen

Q&A with Sister Nielsen: Pasco edition, part deux

Monday, July 13, 2015

Do you have any senior couple missionaries? What are they like?
We do! We have quite a few! They mostly work in the mission office and are in charge of our vehicles, housing, and all that other paperwork jazz. They are the best!

How often do you go to Kennewick?
Pretty much never. I think I've been maybe two or three times in the past four or so months that I've been here. Kennewick and Richland are on the south side of the Columbia River, while Pasco is on the north. The temple is in Richland. But we have a few temple trips, transfer meetings, etc. that are over there in Richland, but we don't go very often.

Do you run out of miles all the time like our missionaries do?
My companion and I have tried to be really good about how we use our miles. The YSA we are over covers all of Pasco. So we would be driving quite a bit, but we try to find rides from YSA members so we can save on miles. We also try to walk as much as we can when we're in our smaller areas.

How big is Pasco?
The "Welcome to Pasco" sign says somewhere around 60,000. Maybe closer to 70,000.

What do people there do for a living... like, who are the major employers for the area?
There's a place called Hanford (I think it's over by Richland...? I'm not sure). Apparently it was the site for some plutonium testing back when they were making the bombs for Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and they're doing some restoration work to make it, like, not radioactive anymore. Tons of people work there. About five times out of 10, people will say they work in some department of some sort over there. Four times out of 10, someone is a farmer. The others are something else just random, I suppose! Lots of farms and farmers!

God Shed His Grace on Thee #amurica

Monday, July 6, 2015

It's been a great week! We had exchanges this week. I always get a little anxious when I find out that exchanges are happening, but I don't know why because every time they happen I love them. I'm so grateful for our sister training leaders. They gave us a challenge to study the Book of Mormon while focusing on a Christlike attribute. At first I hesitated, but as soon as I accepted the challenge, I found my Book of Mormon study was so enriching! I've been feeling so energized and full of the Spirit ever since I started. It's been amazing also to see how many things I've been able to find relating to the attribute I picked. I know that comes from the Spirit. I love that no matter what you're reading, the scriptures apply to your life. That's a real power! I've fallen in love with the Book of Mormon all over again. Sometimes I can't even wait for my studies to start again so I can read more.

The work is going pretty well. We found a new investigator from the area book. Yoly was a former investigator. We kept trying by her house with no luck, but we tried her as she was leaving for work one day, and she told us to come back at such-and-such time. So we came back and she welcomed us right in! It was so cool to see how open she was to hearing us. We got to teach her and her son part of the Restoration, and they had a lot of questions about temples and families. We went through the Book of Mormon baptismal invite, and they accepted for July 25! They are so excited, too! We were humbled and amazed by their enthusiasm. We're thrilled, and can't wait to continue meeting with them. Pray that we'll be able to meet with them and prepare them for their baptism. :)

Otherwise, it's been a good week. We had a great 4th of July! (That's when our exchanges were.) We had to be in our apartment planning by 6:00 that night, but you can kinda see the neighborhoods down by the river from our apartment, and we saw a few fireworks. One of the members even gave us some watermelon, like, randomly. That was SUCH a tender mercy! I told her she answered my prayers. Nothing like watermelon on the 4th of July!

Also, I'm driving now! Ahhhh!

Oh, also... funny story. My companion told me I was teaching in my sleep last night. "I love that! We believe that..." LOL! I'm really becoming a missionary now. :) Heart, might, mind, and strength, I suppose! ;)

I'm grateful for all of you! D&C 98:3

"The Gospel's True, Folks!"
Sister Melanie Nielsen

PICTURES


Dinner! They made me and my temporary companion (we were on exchanges - Hermana Wortley) some grilled pizzas!


The Hebdon Family and our pizzas on the grill


Hermana Wortley and me before we exchanged back. (Yes, I was driving!)


My cute companion hard at work. :)

Where Did June Even Go, Though?

Monday, June 29, 2015

It's been a great week! I'm continually impressed by how much I learn every week. I really love what it says in D&C 50:22, "Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together." I'm always so impressed by the revelation Heavenly Father gives us as we teach by the Spirit. So many of the things I go through or struggle with are answered by the lessons we're able to teach as a companionship.

Recently we've been teaching the 10 Commandments to a few different people, and it really has helped me to see how important they really are to us today, which is something I really never thought a lot about. The Lord really wants us to put him first. Something that's been significant that the Spirit has been teaching me is that we're not given commandments and rules to follow because we're ruled by some dictator who wants everything to be "my way or the highway," if you will, but we're given commandments by our Heavenly Father because he loves us so much in such a significantly selfless way that his entire purpose and existence is to benefit us and give us the way we should go and what we should do so we can return to be with him and have the fullest happiness we can achieve. Because he loves us. That's it. He does it because he loves us. How much more motivation do we have as a result, to follow his commandments? When we know his motives and we know of his love, why wouldn't we strive to do what he asks us to do?

So I guess you could say that things are going really well. Even when the work seems stagnant, the Lord is merciful enough to give revelation and tiny little miracles. They really do add up.

As far as the work, things have been going well! This last week, we were able to get in with a family the missionaries have been teaching for 12 years! Can you imagine? Twelve years! Belen was baptized this last year, and has been inactive. Her husband is less-active and is working in North Dakota! (Sheesh!) Her kids, who are 13, 8, and 3, aren't members, and we've been having a hard time getting in with them this last transfer. This last week, though, we had the impression to knock on their door when we were in the neighborhood, and she answered and let us in! We scheduled an appointment a few days later and were able to sit down with her and her 13-year-old, who normally hasn't been super interested, but when we sat down to teach them, Vibiana (the 13-year-old) was so receptive and was asking and answering questions and contributing to the lesson with GREAT answers! Belen, who is usually pretty reluctant to participate and open up, told us about her desire to go to church and how much of a hard time she has without her husband there. We had a great, Spirit-filled lesson about building our foundation on Christ (Helaman 5:12) and having strength to overcome whatever opposition we go through. We invited her to pray and think about what it is her Heavenly Father would have her do, and she committed to do so. We're excited to follow up with her this week!

We had a really cool experience with some YSA finding time this week. Members are so great to have with you! They just add a whole new spirit to everything. We took a girl named McKenzie out with us to try by some potentials from the YSA area book, and though the potentials we tried weren't home/didn't live there, we tracted into a girl named Aileen who opened up to us about her desire to develop a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ. When we briefly taught her about the Restoration, she was the one asking us for our number and asking when we could meet! It was the coolest thing to see. I know those miracles are out there, and they really do make everything else we go through as missionaries worth it! Even as we've been dealing with the people who dropped us, it's so rewarding to remember those times that were good with them, and the times where you know they felt the Spirit and their testimony was strengthened. And you know, it's so worth it. :)

--

"The Gospel's True, Folks!"
Sister Melanie Nielsen