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)

HI!

Hello from Paraguay, the hottest place on earth!!

Seriously, I am melting away, it's awesome!!! I'm just gonna cut to the chase. We have been finding a lot of new investigators this week! We have been teaching the Restoration a lot and I LOVE IT!!! My testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon have grown so much! I love testifying of all of it!! My job is so fun!! Like who else in the world gets to walk around all day and teach people about the gospel?! (Only me and 75000 other missionaries) #blessed.

I still love my companion SO MUCH!!! She's really incredible, and so so patient with me and my Spanish and everything else! She talks really fast so I'm always like Ummmmm what did you just say??? hahaha but she's learning so much and has grown a lot!

We had a cool experience this week. We were walking outside and it was hotter than I ever thought possible and this lady was sitting under a tree in her yard so we stopped and talked to her and she is super Catholic. She was telling us to go home and wait until it was a little more cooler to leave and do what we do. I was like "but we're tryna find the people that the Lord has prepared for us ya know?" And she said to me, "That's the difference between you guys and me. That's the difference between the Catholics and the Mormons. You guys will be outside teaching about Christ all day but we wait until it's a more convenient time for us." I don't know if I took it the way she meant it but it's true. We will do anything that Christ asks because we love Him and we know that this is what will give people the most lasting happiness.

This is by far the hardest thing I have ever done but it's so worth it. We see miracles and blessings on a daily basis and I have been blessed more than I thought possible. Keep going and moving forward for the cause of Christ.

Ponderize: Heleman 5:12

Happy Valentine's Week!

Hermana Nielsen

This week has been crazy! We've been finding a lot of new people to teach but nadie is coming to church so........nadie esta progresando. But we're really happy and we have our greenie fire going strong!

My companion is seriously so so so awesome and so fun! She's a really hard worker and she loves the work. I am so happy to be with her! She's taught me how to make fried eggs and good (Latina) rice and I've taught her how to make brownies so we've got a pretty good companionship going on! :) It's just freaking me out how fast the time is going, I don't like it!

This week we had a MIRACLE happen! There's a less active member that seriously wanted nothing to do with us. We have to pass her house every time we go teach one of the converts and she always ignored us or said hi and bye at the same time jajaja. We tried to talk to her a couple of times and she was like no way José but then my awesome companion got here and was like "we should try to talk to her" so I was like okay, porque no?! So we stopped by her house one day and she said that she wanted to show us pics from her baptism but she had to find them first so she told us to come back another day. We went back and SHE LET US IN!!!!!! We started talking to her about everything and I felt like I should share Alma 7:11-12 and she just started bawling. She told us about everything that's going on in her life right now and she just lives alone in this little shed. I've never gotten emotional in a lesson until then. It is really incredible the opportunity we have to help others use the Atonement of Christ. I love sharing with people the hope that the gospel brings and that it's never too late to come back! 

Ponderize:Alma 48:17

Con cariño, Hermana Nielsen 

Here´s some solid highlights of this past week:

My favorite lotion is SPF 100.

My favorite perfume is Off bugspray.

We got lost in the jungle this week but I just pretended like I knew what I was doing jajajajaja

Everybody here takes the siesta very seriously, especially during the summer. Like everybody is napping from 1-4 EVERY DAY. It's pretty annoying and really hot. So this week my comp and I contacted a cow because nobody else would listen to us. 

There was a lizard in our shower this week and it couldn't get out and I was too lazy to care but there was a cockroach in the shower too....I didn't know about the cockroach. So I started to wash my hair and I felt something CRAWLING ON MY FOOT AND IT WAS A FLIPPIN COCKROACH. He's definitely in the spirit world right now and I've made a pact to not shower anymore.

This week a guy that has a food stand by our house stopped us and asked why we didn't eat there anymore, I think the hermanas before us did and so we told him we'd stop by on saturdaynight. He asked about the Book of Mormon so obviously we gave him one! We passed by on Saturday night and ate some goooood Lomitos and he was working so we didn't get a lot of time to talk but he was like "Hey Hermana's I'm sorry but I didn't have time to read a lot in that book this week, I only read 5 pages but it was really good." UM 5 PAGES?!?!?! Sadly, that's more than some converts have read!!! We left him with some more to read and he is such a homie! I'm so pumped to keep passing by and teaching him! He's really interested and has a family so #MIRACLE!!!

My companion and I are doing SO GOOD!!! She's incredible! We seriously clicked so fast and I already love her so so so much! And I'm starting to catch on to her Argentine accent! She is 20 years old and she joined the church when she was 14. She served a mini mission for 1 transfer in Argentina so she really knows pretty much everything, I feel like she is training me! We have so much fun every day and I think she thinks I'm crazy but I love it! I'm seriously so happy! We are so busy all the time and I love it!

This week we were walking outside while it was really really hot and I was a little tired and you get the jist...my bag felt really heavy and I was like "Heavenly Father, my bag feels really heavy today, please help me to be able to carry it." The response I got back was "If you want your bag to be lighter, give away a Book of Mormon." I took that answer so simple and so profound. It really taught me alot. If we want to lighten our load, SERVE OTHERS!!!! There's your spiritual boom for the week! Love you guys! Hasta luego!

Ponderize: D&C 121:7-8

Hermana Nielsen 

Making popcorn in the church for Noche de Rama!

Being outside all day in 100 degrees is getting to me

Adios y Bien venida!

What a week! So crazy! Here´s what´s been happening:

*We got Hermana Austin ready and sent home on Wednesday! It´s still so weird to me that she´s in Utah with the snow and everything! We packed all of her stuff up on Wednesday night and while she was packing I was cleaning....I was in the kitchen and I saw a cockroach on the counter so I sprayed it with some bug killer and it ran into a crack behind our sink and so I sprayed a little in there......about 5 minutes later about 10 cockroaches came out and so I killed them all and sprayed some more in this crack...after like 30 minutes I had killed like 40 cockroaches hahahahaha #blessed It was an interesting night. 

*On Tuesday we found out the transfers. We knew that Hna Austin was leaving but we didn´t know for sure what would happen to me. They also changed the way transfers are for all missionaries and when you are leaving your area you have to travel alone hahahahah WHAT?!?! I was waiting for them to say April Fool´s but they never did....luckily Hna Austin and I got to travel together to the offices because I´m training!!! Crazzzzyyyyyy!!!! 

*My new comp is Hermana Ovejero! She´s from Cordoba, Argentina and she is a dream!!! I seriously love her so much! She´s really skinny (like literally skin and bones) but she eats more than me!!! She served a mini mission in Argentina and already knows how to do mostly everything but she´s just fresh from the MTC and is so excited to work! I am so so so so so so so happy!! I was really nervous at first and felt really inadequate but the Lord had literally helped me know what to do and how to do it in every moment, I feel really blessed! 

Here´s a funny story, we were teaching a less active named Emilia and we were talking about how hot it is and I told her that I want to cut my hair because it´s really hot and she was like "Really?!?!   When are you going to cut your hair??" I was like "I´m not sure if I´m really going to cut it, why?" She told me that if I cut my hair she wants to keep it hahahahahahah people here love my hair so much and it´s kind of scary. Don´t worry, I won´t give her my hair. 

Mango season is winding down which makes me really sad because the mangoes here are huge and soooo delicious! They are the cherry on top of missionary work in Paraguay! 

It´s been a really crazy week but I think I am the happiest right now than I have been in my whole mission/life. I´ve been able to really focus on the work here and the more I do, the happier I am! 

Have a wonderful week!! 

Ponderize: Alma 26:35 (read this chapter this week and I literally thought I was going to die of happiness)

Love, Hermana Nielsen