I'm not drowning

Hi fam! Don't worry, I'm safe and okay! None of the flooding has hit our area....I actually had no idea what was going on until I read your emails.

We have been traveling all day today-4 hours in a bus just might kill me over. We went to Asuncion to do Migrations to make sure my companion can still make it home in 2 weeks. It takes us about 2 hours to get to the mission office and then we had to ride in a taxi to the migrations office and back and it's been a looooong day. We also have to ride a bus for 30 minutes every pday to email so that's why I took so long.

The past couple of days have been kind of overwhelming! It was so so fun and good to talk to everybody on Christmas-seriously it meant a lot to me to hear the voices of the people I love so much (my screen was black after the first 10 minutes but igual no mas jajaja).

After the Christmas festivities we've just tried working really hard. We've had a lot of random things going on this transfer so we haven't had a whole lot of time to work every day which is hard but we are doing the best we can! When we were in the offices today our Mission President asked if my comp and I could talk to him for a minute. Our branch is really struggling right now-the church attendance has dropped about 50 people in the last 2 months and there is no priesthood help, it's really hard! But President Wilson talked to us about things we could change and how he can help us because mission presidents are over districts and branches so it's really nice to know that he's concerned and willing to help. He asked me if I knew the area well and was going to be okay to know how to work with everything because my comp is leaving in 2 weeks, I was like "uhhhhhhh......si Presidente.....espero que si!" I was getting pretty overwhelmed with the work that we have in front of us because there's a lot in this area and sometimes it feels like we aren't even making a dent but Heavenly Father really gave me strength and comfort this week that I would be okay! I've had a lot of questions and concerns this past week and literally every single time I have opened the Book of Mormon and continued reading where I left off, the Lord answers my questions or gives me the strength I need. The Book of Mormon is amazing! 

Thank you for your love and support, I hope you all have a happy new year! I´ll be celebrating about 4 hours ahead of you all! 

Also, I have been praying this past month for guidance from Heavenly Father with the goals that I'm going to make for 2016-I usually make goals that I can just check off but I asked Heavenly Father to help me make some that are really going to help me progress and grow, I hope you'll all consider doing the same and asking Heavenly Father in prayer what you can do to make this year the best one yet! 

Ponderize: Mosiah 24:12-16 Heavenly Father really comforted me with this chapter this week! 

Love you all, 

Hermana Nielsen :)

This is where I wash my clothes when I have to!

Ypacaraí

FELIZ NAVIDAD

Did you guys know that CHRISTMAS IS THIS WEEK?!?!?! Yay!!!! I'm so excited!! We get to eat so much food this week!!!

This past week we had our Christmas Activity with the whole mission and it was so fun!! I got to see all my mission buddies and play a lot of soccer and sweat the whole day! We did a program at the beginning and I sang with the zone I'm in right now and did a Nativity play with my old zone, it was so fun!!! We've been practicing for like a month now so it was cool to watch everybody do random skits and sing a just relax and enjoy the Christmas season!

The Patiño Family is progressing really well! Their daughter wants to get baptized and they set a date to get sealed in the temple in February!!! We are working a lot with them and they are progressing so much! They have come to church 3 weeks in a row YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love missionary work and Christmas and being a missionary on Christmas!!!

Have a great week and remember that we celebrate Christmas for CHRIST....not the Virgin Mary. 

I love you all!

Hermana Nielsen

Ponderize: Mosiah 2:41

My comp and I :)

My best friends in the mission!

HI!

 Hello again! I'm just going to start off by saying that life is crazy here in Ypacaraí!! We have eaten some weird stuff and walked through the jungle and it´s seriously so great!!!! Sometimes when I am sitting under the shade of a mango tree, or eating HUGE mangos, or riding in a bus for 30 minutes to go email my family and everything around me is green, I thank my lucky stars-and Heavenly Father, of course- for this incredible opportunity I have to be in Paraguay! We are having so much fun and working so hard and it feels so gooood to be a missionary! 

We have been working on reactivating the Patiño family and they have come to church 2 weeks in a row now!! They are preparing to go through the temple and be sealed soon! I am so so so happy for them! They have 3 little girls and they are so great! We have FHE with them tonight and I am so excited! Teaching families is seriously the coolest!

We also did a random contact this week and found a girl named Pabla. SHE IS SO PREPARED TO HEAR THE GOSPEL!!! You should have heard the questions she was asking! She understands what we teach her and the why. It is so cool! It´s refreshing to hear somebody accept what we teach and not follow the traditions of their parents aka Catholic church. Hahaha

I love you guys and I´m pumped to hear about all the festivities you have going on for Christmas! Remember why we celebrate!

Ponderize: Moroni 7:48 True disciples of Christ have Charity!

Love, Hermana Nielsen

My camera won't connect so this is another week without pics...I'm sorry!

Welcome to the Jungle

What a week!! I forgot to tell you guys last week that we would be having transfers....I left Reducto!!! I had a feeling that I was going to but we got the call on Tuesday so we spent all of Tuesday night packing and getting ready to go to the terminal. We got there at 6 on Wednesday morning and I found out who my new companion is.........HERMANA AUSTIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She's from Springville and she was my Hermana Leader before and we already love each other so so much! It's been such a crazy week!!! We were going crazy in the terminal when we found out we were companions! She's going home after this transfer and it's so weird to think that she'll be able to eat good Mexican food and walk on carpet in 5 weeks!

Our area is Ypacaraí and it's sooooo cool!!!! It is so huge and we just have the mountains all over in our area! We went to part of our area the other day and it was an hour and a half walk....we were literally hiking up into the mountains hahahahaha I love it so much here!

Here's a fun story of the week:

There was a HUGE rainstorm on Thursday night and the next day nobody had power or water but then we got power back on Friday night but we haven't had water since Thursday......so we walked a mile yesterday to a member's house to take a shower using water from their well. We had a couple buckets of water and a cup :)

Then there's this thing called the Virgin of Caacupe...Caacupe is a city right by us and people come from all over to celebrate the Virgin Mary...there's a lot of fanatics and drunks a crazy people so the missionaries that are in Caacupe have to leave every year and go to other areas but this year, since we are close, we have to stay in our house all day today and allllll day tomorrow.......we are going to have some goooood times!!!! I'm just really pumped about everything that is happening in my life right now!!!! I love being a missionary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's my ponderize for the week: Ether 12:6 #Faith

Love, Hermana Nielsen! 

Hola!!!

Hiiiiiii!!! Okay, first of all, I forgot to tell you all to go look up the Mormon Message "In the Spirit of Thanksgiving". Please pretend like it's still Thanksgiving and go watch it, it's sooo funny!!!!

This week was so great! Raul and Johana got married on Saturday night in the church and it was a FIESTA!!!! The ward members helped us so much and we seriously had so much fun!

But I'm lame and forgot my camera cord so I'll send pics next week! Raul got baptized yesterday morning before church and he is so so so happy! We are seriously just loving every minute of being missionaries!

Thanksgiving was good but so weird to not be home! I don't like holidays away from my family!! But I cooked us chicken, mashed potatoes (Thanks Betty Crocker and the expensive American section in the grocery store), rice with corn, and cooked carrots!!! Also we found Heinz BBQ Sauce and now my companion thinks I’m a good cook so life is good down here in South America! We also heard our neighbor playing Footloose this morning so I'm very content with life!

Have an amazing week!!!

Ponderize: Matthew 18:20

DÍA DE GRACIAS

Holllaaaaaa amigos! ¿¿¿Como están??? Bueno. I´m sorry that I am terrible at this weekly email thing. I always forget to tell you guys what's going on in the missionary life! Sorry....but I am repenting and changing my ways! Here are some good things that have happened in the past couple of weeks:

-We had a Zone Conference with our President and a bunch of missionaries and being with other missionaries always gets me way pumped about life! I always see other missionaries with their nametags and I get so excited because I'm with missionaries and then I remember that I am a missionary too! It's really a good time. 

-It's getting a lot hotter here.....ahhhhhh!!!!! It gets really hot and humid and then it rains a ton after and cools down a little bit #blessings but everybody here talks about December like it's the plague because it's so hot so we'll see if I'm fit to survive or not.

-Last week we helped some Hermana's in our district move and it was so fun and so hot and we ate BURGER KING after and it was sooooo good!!!!!!!! I used to hate Burger King but we had hamburgers and fries and it was amazing! Definitely a highlight of my week/life.

-Raul (our investigator) and his girlfriend (member) are getting married this Saturday and he's getting baptized on Sunday!!!!!!!!!! He's seriously so pumped and we're full with wedding planning and everything! I never thought I'd be a wedding planner in my life but maybe I know what I'm going to study when I get home.....

Hey! This week is Thanksgiving!!! I've got some big plans for our lunch on Thursday but I'll let you know how my cooking skills go next Monday....I've been thinking this week about what I'm grateful for and these are what came to my mind first:

-My family

-My friends at home and on missions

-My friend's families

-The Book of Mormon

-The Atonement 

-Paraguay

It's a pretty obvious list but I've received so much love and support from my family, friends, and their families and it's made all the difference in my mission. I also LOVE LOVE LOVE the Book of Mormon! Greatest book ever. The Atonement has helped me in more ways than I thought possible and has helped me change and learn and grow so so so much! And obviously, PARAGUAY! I'm going to be one of those missionaries that comes home and is obsessed with the country they served in and talk about it all the time #sorrynotsorry

Anyways, life is good here in Paraguay! Hermana Espinoza and I are doing good and she is helping me improve my Spanish so much! It's been a good transfer! I love you all and please eat an extra plate of delicious Thanksgiving food for me, okay?

Ponderize: Last week-2Nephi 2:6-8 This week: Alma 34:38

Love, Hermana Nielsen 

Compañeras 4 life!

We've eaten a lot of cow heart lately...

Missionary Work and the Atonement

Alright fam and friends, sorry I didn´t email last week. Things got a little crazy because MY SISTER IS ENGAGED!!! LIKE WHAT?!?! Feliz Navidad Hermana Nielsen!!! Anyways, today I´m just gonna throw out all of my thoughts from the past two weeks...I hope you enjoy!

Tomorrow I hit my 5 month mark....AHHHHHH time is flying. I can´t believe it! I also still cannot believe that I am in Paraguay teaching the gospel with a lil Peruvian...life is cray cray. I´ve been thinking a lot about what I´ve learned in the last 5 months and everything has been so central on the Atonement.

You guys! The Atonement is the most incredible thing ever!! As a missionary I have had to use the Atonement every single day. I´ve learned more about my Savior than I thought possible in such a short amount of time. One thing I´ve learned is that even though we are commanded by our Heavenly Father to be perfect, He does not expect us to be perfect in this lifetime....like, what?? That's what I had in my head. That we have to be perfect to be righteous...no no no. That is so wrong! Righteousness means that you keep on trying and doing your best. That is all Heavenly Father asks of us-that we try our best! My testimony has been strengthened so much and I know that I would not have been able to make it through these last 5 months without our Savior. We are #blessed!!! Here's a solid quote from Elder Holland that I want to share with you guys:

"Anyone who does any kind of missionary work will have occasion to ask, Why is this so hard? Why can’t our success be more rapid? Why aren’t there more people joining the Church? Why isn’t the only risk in         missionary work that of pneumonia from being soaking wet all day and all night in the baptismal font?”

I have thought about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that missionary work  is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? It seems to me that missionaries and mission leaders have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. Missionary’s and mission leaders have to take at least a step or two toward the summit of Calvary.

Now, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not talking about anything anywhere near what Christ experienced. That would be presumptuous and sacrilegious. But I believe that missionaries and investigators, to come to the truth, to come to salvation, to know something of this price that has been paid, will have to pay a token of  that same price.

For that reason I don’t believe missionary work has    ever been easy, nor that conversion is, nor that retention  is,nor that continued faithfulness is. I believe it is supposed to require some effort, something from the depths of our soul.

If He could come forward in the night, kneel down, fallon His face, bleed from every pore, and cry, “Abba, Father (Papa), if this cup can pass, let it pass,” 11  then little wonder that salvation is not an easy thing for  us. If you wonder if there isn’t an easier way, you should remember you are not the first one to ask that. Someone a lot greater and a lot grander asked a long time ago if there wasn’t an easier way.

When you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out, you are standing with the best life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your sorrows and afflictions. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on to Calvary. The only way to eternity is through Him—the Way, the Truth, and the Life."

I´m so grateful for the hard days and weeks in the mission because they bring me closer to Christ and I have been able to change myself in a way that would have never been possible if I didn´t come on my mission. I know that Jesus Christ lives and because of this knowledge I can do anything! Don´t run from hard things, push forward with faith in Jesus Christ and you will find that "The hardest as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing." (Elder Eyring)

I love you all! Thank you for every letter, email, prayer, thought….they have blessed my life every day!

Love, Hermana Nielsen 

What a life!!!!

Well my dear amigos, this week has been awesome!!! Here are some highlights:

-We had exchanges with the Hermana Leaders and I was with Hna McDougal from AZ...she is so awesome and helped me sooooo much!!!

-We had a ward mission activity and the little youngsters left with us to go teach and give away Books of Mormon and do contacts, it was so fun!!! Most of the kids that went with us aren´t even members hahahahaah 

-We are teaching Raul and he is so prepared for baptism! He wants to get baptized so bad but he and his girlfriend have to get married first....they want to do it the first week of December so we're teaching him and planning everything right now!!! Yay!!!

-Hermana Espinoza is awesome! She's my little Peruvian and I'm her big American hahaha we are getting along really well and the language barrier isn't as bad as I thought it would be....most days #blessed

-We're still trying to get to know the other area really well and we're finding a lot of miracles with the less active members...Sergina CAME. TO. CHURCH. She is literally the sassiest person I have ever met and she calls me her little gringo hahaha she told me she was only going to come to Relief Socitey but with the Spirit of the Lord I convinced her to come to our gospel principles class and Sacrament meeting!!! 

I LOVE WHAT I AM DOING SO SO SO MUCH!!!!

Everyday I go to bed with a huge smile on my face! La obra misional es la mejorrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!

Ponderize this week: 1 Nephi 13:37

The Lord needs our help in this work!

I love you all :)

Love, Hermana Nielsen

Whoops, forgot to tell you that I´m in the most beautiful place ever #blessed

We dressed up like missionaries for Halloween!

Everybody deserves a chance to hear the gospel <3

Eating homemade tortillas con la familia Colman

Rainy dayzzz in Paraguay

Mission activity!!!!!

WOW.

This week has been so crazy. We had transfers on Wednesday and Hermana Porter left :( :( :( It seriously feels like one of my best friends left me and I can't talk to her at all ahhhhh!!!

Our district leader called us on Tuesday and told us that she would be leaving and I would be staying, we were expecting it but it is still weird without her. We spent Tuesday packing and cleaning everything for Hermana Porter to leave Reducto. When our district leader called, he also told us that the elders in our ward would be leaving to and their area would be added on to ours..........................WHITE WASH!!! Ahhhhhh so now we have two areas and it's huge but we're figuring out how to manage the two!

Also, I GOT A NEW COMPANION!!!! Hermana Espinoza, she's from Peru :) she's about 5 feet tall and as latina as they come hahahahaha she's really great and it's fun to learn new things with a new companion! If I had a dollar for every time she said "wow" I would have a lot of dollars hahahah #blessed

It's raining cats and dogs here right now! (Literally there are a million cats and dogs here) I love this weather so much! The streets are flooded and it's been a good time trying to cross the streets!

Sorry this letter is so random, I'm not good at rough drafts and ain't nobody got time to go back and fix things! 

My ponderize scripture this week is 1Corinthians 2:9

I know that if we truly love the Lord, we will do what he asks of us and when this life is over we're going to be surprised at how worth it it all was. 

I love you all, thank you so much for your letters, emails, love and support-it means a lot to me <3

Love, Hermana Nielsen

Sorry, no pics this week, I didn't want to bring my camera in the rain!!

BLESSED

Wooowwww this week has been so wonderful!! Every week is filled with a million things, I wish I could share them all!!! I am just going to share a few highlights from this week :)

-Today we went to the mission office in Asuncion to do immigrations and driving around the city in a taxi was suuuper fun! It's so weird being in the city area, but I love it! We also got to talk to President Wilson and his wife for a minute and that is always a treat!

-Hermana Porter and I had been planning an activity for our ward and the other ward that meets in our building. There are Elders in both wards with us and the helped a ton! Activities are sometimes not the greatest success but we filmed a video of the members saying I am a Child of God in English for the past few weeks and a member helped us put them all together to show and we planned soooo much.....the activity was a HUGE success!!!! We had more the 15 investigators there and they were all families and it was so incredible!!! It's one of those moments where you can see all of your hard work and efforts really paying off! We played some minute to win it games and had the Elders cook foods from their countries. We ate food from the United States, Honduras, Peru, and Bolivia, it was so fun! I love my area so much!

-This week I finished the Book of Mormon for the first time in Spanish!! My testimony of the Book of Mormon has grown so much and I know that reading it in Spanish really helped me with learning Spanish. I'm so much better than when I started mentally and spiritually, The Book of Mormon is the word of God, READ IT!!!

-We taught Hermana Irene this week, she is a member but has been less active and has been wanting some visits from the members so you know the missionaries were all about that! She speaks mostly Guarani and has 17 children hahaha I think she's the greatest person I know in Paraguay. She's just like my Grandma Emma in some ways and I have been able to love her so deeply, so quickly. She also scratched my back all the way through Relief Society so that's another reason to love her I guess! She's just really special to me and I'm forever grateful to know her!

This week I have been blessed with so much comfort and peace in knowing that no matter what happens in the future, I will be okay. When we stay close to Jesus Christ we don't need to worry about the future. All we need to do is prepare now and trust in His will. I've never been more happy to be doing something in my life.

Ponderize this week! Matthew 4:19

Love, Hermana Nielsen

Our activity SO COOL!!!

A Family that we're teaching right now...they're super awesome and super prepared to accept the gospel!!

The daughters in the Recalde Family...they are my sisters in Paraguay! 

 

Las Familias pueden ser Eternas!

This week the weather has been suuuuper cold! It's so weird! The weather here feels just like fall and it is so fun because I feel like I am at home!!! I want to drink hot chocolate a bundle up every day! But I know that the weather is going to change soon! Everybody talks about December here like it's the scariest thing ever, I am scared!!! It gets super-hot and humid but if that's the worst that can happen then BRING IT!! 

We have just spent the week teaching a lot and finding new investigators! We had divisions and the Hermana leaders came to our house for a day! Hermana Ball stayed in Reducto with me and I was SO SCARED!!!! I didn't think that my Spanish would be sufficient and that I wouldn't know the area well enough but I surprised myself and with the Lord's help, we made it!

We have transfers next week and Hermana Porter is probably going to leave :( I was really scared to have to lead the area but I am working on exercising my faith muscle and trusting in the Lord!

Yesterday I had a really spiritual day. Every day in the mission is spiritual but yesterday I was thinking a lot about my family! We taught our Gospel Principles class about how families can be eternal (hence the title). Then during my personal study I was thinking a lot about my family and studying about them. My family has always been important to me and my testimony of eternal families has grown a lot in the past 4 months (can you believe it's already been 4?!!?!). Our families are the most important thing we have in this life and when we center our families on Christ they are a million times happier. But I realized that it starts with us. We have to center ourselves on Christ in order to help our families and I am working so hard on that! It's such a blessing to be learning so many lessons in such a short amount of time. I am so grateful for my eternal family and the blessing they are to me!! 

Life is incredible here in Reducto! Every single night I go to bed so happy. I have never experienced a joy quite like this.

Ponderize Scripture! D&C 88:119

Love, Hermana Nielsen!

BEST Weekend ever!!

Okay, so I think it's safe to say that General Conference was a dream for all of us!! This past weekend was better than any Christmas I have ever had (sorry Santa). But seriously, WE GOT TO WATCH IT IN ENGLISH!!!! Yayyy! We watched the Women's Session on Saturday before the other sessions started and I was just crying through the whole thing! It felt so good to hear the messages in English and understand every single word that was going on! Ahhhh no feeling can compare!

We rode to the stake center and watched it with all of the other missionaries and a lot of people were there too. We sat in the Relief Society room around a tv and enjoyed a lot of treats!!

I don't think that I have a favorite talk because all of them were incredible but some of the things that really stuck out to me were:

Being worthy to have the Holy Ghost with us, being temple worthy, keeping the Sabbath Day holy, and trusting in the Lord. I am already dying to get the talks and read them every day for the next 6 months!

Oh my, we also got 3 new apostles!! What?!?! Conference was seriously so special, I am so happy to hear so much feedback from you guys about what you liked about conference.

We are so so blessed to have a living prophet that teaches us what the Lord wants us to do.

I would tell you more about my past week but seriously the only thing that I can remember is conference! And Hermana Porter tried Coke for her first time this past week hahaha. There used to be a rule that we couldn't drink black sodas but our President just changed it so she tried coke for her first time!

Seriously, everything is so good. I am so happy and conference helped me take a step back and stop worrying about some little things that I was caught up on. I am just so happy and so happy for all of you! There's always room to find joy!

My Ponderize scripture this week is 3 Nephi 13:33, Seek ye first the kingdom of God!!

Love you all! 

Hermana Nielsen

Helllolooooooo!!!!

Okay, this week we had interviews with President Wilson and he is seriously so incredible!! He doesn't have to say anything and you can feel his deep love for the Savior and his desire to serve the Lord without recognition from the world. My president is so great. And I could understand him this time and while Hna Porter was in her interview I chatted with his wife and I could understand her and she could understand me! Yay!!!! A lot of progress has happened in the last 9 weeks!!!

Yesterday was Hermana Porter's birthday!! It was super fun! Everybody here is obsessed with making birthday's huge so the family we ate with yesterday gave us a feast and cake and it was all super fun!! I will send pics next week, we are having struggles with the computer today. I also gave a talk in sacrament meeting yesterday for 10 minutes IN SPANISH!!!! It ended up being super fun and the Lord definitely helped me. I told them at the beginning that I could talk in Guarani or English if they couldn't understand my Spanish and they all loooooved that so I am earning the love of the members hahaha they are like kids in a candy shop when missionaries can speak Guarani so I am buying a Spanish to Guarani dictionary today. #blessed

David and Ino are doing so great! David's whole family is inactive but he lives with his grandparents and they have started coming to church since his baptism, it's so so great!!!

And Ino is so faithful and is just eating up the gospel! They come every week and they always have questions waiting for us when we teach them, it's awesome! They are the real deal!!

I am so sad to hear of the death of Richard G. Scott. I can't believe that 3 apostles have passed away so quickly. Conference is going to be so fun this week! I have literally had a count down for a month now hahaha! We can either watch in English, Spanish or Guarani...I bet you can't guess which I'll be watching!

Hermana Porter and I have decided who we think the new apostles will be. We circled their pictures in our Ensign so I'll let you know next week if we are right.

Love you all! Romans8:35-39

Love, Hermana Nielsen

Miracle Baptism!!

Heyyyyyy everybody!!! 

Guessssss whaaaatttttt!!!!

OUR MIRACLE GOT BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!!!

*EVERYBODY DANCE NOW*

Ahhhhh man it was such a great week. Inocencio is a new person!! He and his wife are soooo much happier now that they are married and he just looks like a new person!!! It's so incredible to see the miracle of the Atonement working in people! We went to the church on Saturday night and had to put some buckets of water in the font because it was kind of low...and fish out some cockroaches but other than that it was super great! There were some ward members there to support and the best part is just that Ino is so so happy. I can´t tell you how incredible this is to experience, I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!

Everything has been super great this transfer in Redùcto, Hermana Porter and I are still going strong! She´s seriously the greatest. We are so much alike and we get along so so well.

Have you all started to think about General Conference? Something that I´m doing right now is praying every day to be spiritually prepared to find answers to 2 questions that I chose last week. I think that´s really going to help me be ready to hear and learn what the Lord wants me to! You all better be pumped for it because I am looking forward to this more than I have ever looked forward to Christmas!!!! We get to watch it in our ward building and if we get lucky, we can watch it in English!!! Yessssss!!! 

Love you all, Hermana Nielsen

Ìno´s baptism!!

We had a Zone Training this week!! 

My Zone is also our district so we see each other every week, 

I love it!!!

6 weeks!!!

Okay, my companion and I have been laughing all week because I realized that I have not told you guys hardly anything about the past 6 weeks hahaha I´m sorry! You can all read my journal when you get home I guess....We had transfers this week but nothing changed with our companionship. We weren´t expecting it to because I am in training so usually you keep your trainer for at least 2 transfers and I am so grateful for that!! I seriously have the best companion ever!!!! We are so much alike and we just have so much fun together every day, I really love her! 

Remember that miracle I told you about, when we heard that voice yell "Hermanas!" and nobody was there but we found Lourdes and she said that her boyfriend wants to get baptized? Well we've known them for about 3 weeks now and SO MUCH has happened! Teaching them has been so fun! They are so chill but they keep all of their commitments and read the Book of Mormon together and they have questions and they love everything we teach them! We taught them the law of Chastity like a week and half ago and they were really unsure about getting married...the next day they told us that they talked about it and decided to get married!!!!!! Soooooo.......we planned a wedding in 1 day and they were married on Wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hermana Porter and I literally ran around on Tuesday and Wednesday like chickens with our heads cut off! We had to call the judge and set up a time for them to get married at the church and invite their friends and family and get decorations and our neighbors made a cake for us (Paraguayans Loooooove cake) and we bought some soda and needless to say IT WAS THE WEDDING OF THE CENTURY. I only say that because Lourdes and Ino were both crying after they signed the papers and when we taught them last night, we could feel the spirit so much stronger in their home! And they are so so so happy!! It's so incredible to see how following the commandments changes lives and brings so many blessings of happiness! Ino can probably be baptized this week, we are really excited for him and he is so ready for this!!

Yesterday, we had stake conference and Elder Ferreira of the 70 spoke. It was incredible! The theme of our conference was keeping the Sabbath day holy....again! We have had the privilege of listening to so many members of the 70 and apostles these past 6 weeks and they have all talked about keeping the Sabbath day holy. It is really important for us to remember that Sunday isn't just a day to go to church, but to really spend the whole day focusing on the Lord and doing everything we need to do to spiritually prepare ourselves for the week.

Everything here is going so great! I love my area, we are working really hard, and learning a new language is the weirdest, funnest, hardest, craziest thing I have ever done! It's a fun challenge to tackle every day!

I never thought that the things that would make me most happy as a 19 year old were learning how to say a new word, having investigators or less active members come to church, reading General Conference talks and the Book of Mormon. Every day is a new adventure and I'm loving every second of it!

Thank you for all of your love and support, I would not be here if it weren't for you wonderful people!!

I'm going to eat a churro filled with dulce de leche now! 

Besos!!

Love, Hermana Nielsen 

I also finally bought a camera this week so I will send better pics!!!!

My area is so so so beautiful!....and my companion!

The wedding!!