3-28-16

Well this last week felt like 1 day so that´s cool. NOT! I hate how fast time goes on the mission. But here´s what´s up:

-I have not had diahrrea since Easters, I have had it since last June.

-We finished Hermana Ovejero's training this week!!! These have been the fastest 3 months of my mission, I can't believe it! She already came to the mission pre trained and she actually taught me more than I taught her jajaja but igual no más!

-This week was really special because we got to celebrate the Savior alllll week! I love the way the Paraguayans celebrate Semana Santa. It's really special and I really focused on the Savior and the specific events that happened in His life. 

-We have an investigator named Cecilia and she came to church again yesterday!! Yay!!!!! We are planning on having her baptism the 9th of April! She's excited to come to General Conference and she loves Personal Progress! (she's 13!) She's so so so great. Please just pray for her and that everything goes well. I am so happy!

-Okay so this week it rained for a few days and they happened to be holidays so it was really hard to find people to teach. BUT we have an investigator named Carolina. She is by far the hardest investigator I have had in the sense of doctrinal questions up the wazooooooo!!!! But it's been fun to teach her. She just needs some faith ya know? But it was raining all day Friday and I was like crap. Who we gonna teach. And we had an appointment with her so I was like alright Hna Ovejero, let's go. I always get a little nervous before lessons with her because she is kinda hard to teach and it takes a lot to get the spirit there and without the spirit I literally don't know what to teach her. So we go to her house and she was chill and let us in and HOLY COW!!!!!!! We had the most POWERFUL lesson with her! Right before, my comp and I both felt that we needed to teach the Book of Mormon. We focused on that the whole time and the Spirit was so strong. Carolina started opening up to us and felt more comfortable and we were definitely seeing progress. It was so cool. It was one of those lessons where you're like "Wow, this needs to be on the District" (my fellow missionaries will understand lol) Lessons like that are the reason we get up and study and then leave for hours every day. So worth it. I love being a missionary. 

We are doing so good here! We have transfers this week but I don't feel like I'm leaving, we'll see! Have a happy week!

Ponderize: 2 Nephi 16:10 "be converted and be healed."

LOVE, Hermana Nielsen 

Pascua!!!!

Hola! How´s everybody´s start to SEMANA SANTA!!!! Yeahhhhh!!!!! I've heard about this week for my whole mission and it's finally here. Everybody in Paraguay celebrates Easter for the whole week and makes a ton of chipa (cheese bread?) and I've been told that as missionaries we eat it allllll week. Bring it.

This week we had a conference with and Area 70, Elder Urre and his wife. His wife talked about how great people need resilience and how we have to have hard things to help us grow, I was like alright this is for me 110%! It was really fun too because I got to see some of my bff's in the mission!

This week the heat came back and my body was like "nope." But with about 700 gallons of water every day we are surviving! Not really, I am enjoying the heck out of my mission. It's the best thing ever!

I don't really have a lot to say this week. I can't remember what happened jajaja. But every day is an adventure and it's really fun! I really don't know what else to say right now.....enjoy this week and think of the Savior and why we celebrate Easter! I'm going to miss Easter candy a lot but we've got cheese bread to make up for that right? I'm sorry, my mind is blank hahahaha have a great week!

Love, Hermana Nielsen 

Ponderize: Luke 24:5-6

Hermana Ball, Hermana Badger and I!

Hermana Ball and I with our trainees!

I learned how to make chipa!

Overwhelmed

Yes, the title of my email is how I feel right now jajaja. Overwhelmed with SO MANY EMOTIONS! So much is happening in Utah but I´m in Paraguay entonces....voy a disfrutar 100% Paraguay!

Since the day we hit March 1st the weather has cooled down by like 15 degreessssss!! YAYAYAYA!!! I don´t have to use my sweat rag anymore! And I have had a cold because the weather has been 80 degrees and my body is not used to that right now jajaja. We don´t even sleep with the AC anymore because it´s cooolllddd!! I don`t think I can ever come back to Utah.

Also, I guess the news is out...I hit my 9 month mark this week...that is really why I am so overwhelmed! I can´t believe it. I still feel so new in the mission. I feel like I have 4 months or something. I don´t know how I feel about it. Time is going by way to fast and that makes me really sad. I love Paraguay so so much. 

Hey go watch this Mormon Message:

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2010-07-14-forgiveness-my-burden-was-made-light?lang=eng

Every time I watch it I cry. It is so amazing. I think I have watched it every day this week in Spanish and English hahahah. But my favorite part is at the end when he says that he's glad we have trials because they help us to love. That is what I have learned here in Ypacarai. I have learned to love so much more. I have never been rejected more, made fun of, had to deal with creepy men, or had my patience tried so much in my life. I was wondering this past week if I have grown or changed in this area and I asked the Lord if He would show me how. Boy did he ever. I realized that I am not the same person at all. My capacity to love others under cualquier circumstance has grown so much. I love this place. I love these people. This has been the hardest part of my mission so far but I cried yesterday when I started talking to an hermana in our branch because I already know how much I'm going to miss her and everybody else. I love this place so so so much. I'm grateful too for the trials that God gives us because they really do help us to learn and grown and love so much more. And love is so great!

Anyways, I'm really happy down here. 

Can't send pics because you already know...

Have a great week!

love, Hermana Nielsen

Ponderize: Look for a scripture about love :) 

Libro de Mormón

Seriously I am so sorry if my letters bore you all to tears....I am trying to be better at remembering and writing good stuff!

This week some interesting things happened:

We had to go to Asuncion so my companion could do migrations and stuff and so she went with another girl from her group and I left with her companion, Hermana Ball to do proselyting. I TALKED IN ENGLISH AND IT WAS AWKWARD!!!! Do you know how happy that makes me?!?!

Hermana Ball is one of my best friends in the mission and we were talking and she was like "You're English is so good right now" Jajajajaja I was trying to talk normal but it's so weird. I didn't realize but I hadn't spoken in English since the middle of January! I love Spanish and sometimes I hate it at the same time because it's hard but I am really grateful to be learning a new language!

We had our interviews with our Mission President this week and they were so good! He gave me so much advice and comfort with our area. He really understands missionary work and that it's not about numbers, it's about people. I really appreciated that so much. He told me that he knows we're working hard and he understands our area really well. It just felt like the Lord was really talking to me and telling me that He's knows me and He's happy with me. :)

We're seeing a lot of progression in a less active family that we are working with! Familia Patiño!! They have goals to go to the temple in April and little miracles are happening! The mom said that in church last Sunday she felt like she should start dressing more modestly (which is real hard to do in Paraguay). She came to church the next week with a way modest dress and she just looked so much better and like a mom, it was so cool to see the Spirit working with her in little ways that are preparing their family to go to the temple! 

This week I finish the Book of Mormon and I've never had a better experience reading The Book of Mormon than in this go around. I received revelation every.single.day. And on hard days so many words of comfort and peace popped out to me. I hope that you're all readin the Book of Mormon every day, it is what will save us spiritually. #TeamBookofMormon!!!

I love you all! Again, I'm really sorry if this is boring...............

Ponderize: Moroni 10:3-5

Love, Hermana Nielsen

Here's a pic of me and my comp on our way to email today jajaja

Bueno!

This week was awesome! We had an area transition and Elder Bednar spoke to us! Wooowwwwww. I learned so much through the Spirit. Mostly I learned that God loves me so much and He is guiding and watching our area.

We have really been struggling to get investigators to church and so nobody has been progressing and that has been hard. But Elder Bednar talked about patience with the Lord´s timing. This is the Lord's work, not ours and we have to work as hard as we can but not get discouraged with what's happening. Seguir adelante con ánimo!

My companion is really helping with that! The moment she got here she's brought such a strong light into my life. I really love and appreciate her. She's so patient with me and my weaknesses and just happily helps and reminds me of the beauty of our calling, I love our companionship so much! 

Speaking of weaknesses, today I was studying about them in personal study and I realized that whenever I have a weakness all I want God to do is help me take it away but Helloooo Hermana Nielsen, Ether 12:27, might as well make that weakness a strength, right?! Just keep that in mind. God is here to take us from what we are and make us stronger, better people through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. And the way we can do that is personal, daily prayer, scripture study (especially the Book of Mormon) and church attendance every Sunday. My testimony on those 3 things has gotten so much stronger!

We got a whole new district this last week and it's so fun because the Elders think we know stuff and they call us and ask us questions and it's cool to be able to help the elders out jajaja also our new District leader has a quote that he always says:

"This isn't a competition but we have to win!"

So true! All we're trying to do is help each other have eternal life, right?

Anyways, sorry if this is boring you all to death. Just hope you know that I love my mission, even the hardest parts. I am becoming a better person and it's cool to watch myself grow! (I promise I'm not bragging right now hahahahaha)

I hope you're all ready for General Conference in a month!

Happy Leap Day!

Ponderize: Ether 12:27!!

Love, Hermana Nielsen

:)

Hi friends! I'm a little bummed to hear that nobody got my emails last week :( I resent it so hopefully you can see what went on in the mission world down here. This week was a little crazy, we didn't have a lot of time to work because my companion got sick so we were home Wednesday-Sunday. I cooked and cleaned and read Jesus the Christ and the Book of Mormon the whole time so it was still productive jajaja!! But this was definitely the hottest week of my life. It was probably a blessing that we were inside for most of it because seriously I didn't know that this kind of heat/humidity combination was possible. I realized this week that if I can make it through a Paraguayan summer as a missionary I can literally do anything. We got the call for transfers today and Hermana Ovejero and I are both staying here together! I am so happy that we get to finish her training together, I seriously love my companion so much! I really don't have a lot more to say but I'm grateful for all of the prayers and love that are sent my way each week. You people keep me going! 

Ponderize: 3 Nephi 9:14

Xoxo Hermana Nielsen 

Us with Hermana Juana. We are teaching her the Temple Class so that her and her husband can get sealed in April, she's one of the most faithful people I've ever met! I <3 Juana! 

Our freezer :)

Pics at the Basilica

1.The city Caacupé 

 2. Us with our District and Zone leaders

Ybyraty

1. This is the easy way up....

2. Hermana Ovejero and I (Niagra Falls is dripping down my face)

*****THIS IS THE EMAIL I SENT LAST WEEK BUT I DON'T KNOW WHY NOBODY GOT IT*****

This week:

We had to take a member with us to an appointment to translate the WHOLE lesson in Guarani hahaha it was super interesting but really fun!! WE'll see what happens!!

Yesterday the ac in the church didn't work and all 52 of us almost died from heat together! Seriously, the hottest sacrament meeting I have ever attended. 

Yesterday we went with our Branch President and his wife to visit this less active family that we are trying to reactivate. They have goals to go to the temple and we are getting them back on track! My sweet friend Madelyn gave me some valentines to give out before I left on my mission and I was able to share them with this family and it helped the lesson so much! The little girls loved the tradition we have of giving Valentines in the US and they were thrilled to see Disney Princesses! It was a really cool experience and we connected with them a lot better (other than when they were talking in Guarani the whole time jajaja). 

I'm really happy and really hot....we just passed a sign that said it's 40 degrees celcius right now....go look that up in fahrenheit. If anybody wants to die from heat, Paraguay is the place to be!!! But aside from the heat, everything is going well. We are working really hard. The people here are very, very Catholic and they don't want to leave the traditions of their fathers, but we are working on it!! Love you guys! Have a great week!

Xoxo Hermana Nielsen

Ponderize: 1John 4:19-21 (1John, not John)