Week 80: Final Count Down!

Hello everyone. It has been very busy over here. Lots of exchanges and this week we have mini zone conferences over zoom. So we will be packed again. I'm super excited to get to pick up the new incoming missionaries. We are seeing dresses which has been fun, but our p-days are running out. Also don't have any time left, but will let y'all know the updates in two. Love y'all 

Week 79: Hey!!

 Quick email here, because I got to have fun failing at bowling with my district :) 

Busy week that has been great! 

We had 3 exchanges which are so fun, but also very exhausting. For one of them I got to go back to my baby area for a few hours and see my friend Josh who I was able to help teach for his baptism OVER A YEAR AGO! So crazy but great :) he's preparing to go on a mission and is just amazing. Also we reenacted our classic photo. 

We are trying to focus on helping our friends and are trying to figure out the issue we are having with so many exchanges that every lesson has different people and we feel the inconsistency is kinda hindering them from progressing faster. 

This week we have 3 more exchanges, but one will probably have to be a video call because they are in quarantine. So life is going amazing and I'm so happy, but very busy and that's about all I have the time for to type today. Love y'all and stay happy and healthy :)

Sister Nielson :D

Week 78: I don't know what to title this one!?!

 Howdy to all!! 🤠

Another crazy week (I feel like I'm always saying that haha) down. 

As always we got to do some fun outside service. We got to deal with taking old metal tomato cages out of ivy. Boy does that stuff weave itself real good. And we got to help our friend spread wood chips around her front garden area. We've also had opportunities to contact a lot of people. We have been calling people who had been taught previously and there is a good number who are interested in meeting with us again! So that has been cool.

We had two exchanges this week where we split and go out with a different companionship to get ideas and training. The first one, the sister came here with me and one of my companions; and the second one I went to their area and one of the sisters went to my area with my two companions. It's been fun to get to work with other sisters and I've been learning so much. It really helps us know what is going on with the other missionaries and what they need help with. When people are willing to communicate it is great because then we can know how to help them. 

This upcoming week is going to be another busy and happy week :)

Love y'all, 

Sister Nielson :D 

Week 77: Running Around the Block

 This week has been super busy. We have lots of opportunities to serve here which has been awesome! We've done cleaning inside, weed pulling, I mowed a lawn for the first time in a hot sec. It's been so fun to get to know people better while you serve them, or even better serve with them. 

We had exchanges with our stl's which was great because it was my first spanish area, so it was fun to be back for the day. We have two planned for this week and the rest of the weeks as well. We have 9 to go one, so 8 in the next 4 weeks. 

During exchanges they had a lesson with Amelia with a member who really connected with her and brought up the importance of eve's decision and Heavenly mother which usually we wouldn't bring up until later, but it really resonated with Amelia and was what she needed. We are so thankful for members helping us and sharing their testimonies of the truth. We also have been helping a less active member of a few years and are about to reteach the lessons and do family home evenings with her. She really wants to bring the gospel into her home and raise her daughter with it. Her desire impresses me, and reminds me of the great blessing we have of the gospel and the importance of having our homes centered around it.

Have a fabulous week!

Sister Nielson :D

Week 76: Howdy!!

 

Hey y'all! 

I'm loving my new area and companions and am so excited to hit this last transfer hard. I just became the sister version of the assistants to the president, so that was very crazy and unexpected. Especially since I only have one transfer left, and have never served in a leadership position before. But I'm excited to serve wherever the Lord needs me. 

This week has been crazy. We have some amazing people we are teaching. We got to help one of them with some yard work and her daughters even had me hold the chicken on my shoulder. It won't poop they said...it pooped 😂

But the people here in this ward are so nice. We have lots of young couples and families and older widows and couples. They also are going to church, so I got to go in person for the first time since March. The young couples go one week, and then the older group the next. While at church this week I found out that some members from the athens young single adult ward I served in at the beginning of my mission moved into this ward when they got married. I knew about their engagement, but am so excited to get to serve around them again. So fun!

We had zone conference over zoom with Elder Martineau. It was really refreshing and inspiring. We talked about alma 8-12 a lot and of the importance of working through and with the members. When learning about new things it can be hard and difficult, but members can be their friends and answer any questions when we leave. I don't have much time to say more, but love y'all and gave a blessed week!

Sister Nielson :D

 

 

 

 

 

Week 75: Don Pedro's Yes Please!

Hola a todos! 

This has been a crazy week. We had zone conference with our masks and sitting with social distance. It is weird to have missionaries together but no one can hug or really say hi other than awkward gap conversations. But it was really nice to see other people and to be trained by President and Sister Harris. They explained more of their vision of the Facebook pages. 

We celebrated Hermana Clark's birthday! We had pancakes for breakfast, cilantro's for lunch (fabulous Venezuelan food), Brusters icecream for a snack, and cake that night. You can't tell our companionship priorities at all with our celebrating, right 😂 but it was super fun!

We also went with the elders and chalked a park. It was fun to get out and add a little brightness to the ground. We wrote quotes and drew happy little pictures. We found a gazebo to do it under because we found out it was supposed to rain that day haha

On Saturday we got to help a couple do some yard work. We moved lots of paving stones and removed a stump. I've decided I like pickaxes. I really love service and working outside with members. It really helps you build a relationship and get to know them in a way you normally wouldn't. So depending on the local guidelines, call up the missionaries to come help you with service. Or better yet, take them to help serve someone else with you. 

Crazy news came sunday night. We got transfer calls, and all 3 of us are being transferred. It's really sad to be leaving them and all of our people. We called Javier to say goodbye and basically just cried with him for 10 min, but that is missionary work for you haha. Hermana Clark is going cross mission to elberton, and hermana Orr is hopping to the next zone over but is switched English, so that is pretty sad. I'm going down to the mission Office area (near Don Pedros eatery) and am becoming a sister assistant. It was very shocking news, especially since I only have 1 transfer left, and have never been an STL before, so I don't really know what I will be doing. But it'll be quite the adventure. 

Tune in next week for more of Georgia's crazy adventures

-Hermana Nielson :D

Week 74: Negative is Positive

Hello everyone! 

We got our test results back and we are negative! So that is really good. Sister Orr got tested last week, and hna Clark and I at the beginning of this week. The test wasn't painful in my opinion, but it was very uncomfortable. But your nasal passage gets really cleaned out. And today we are officially out of quarantine! The outside is a beautiful world and now we will get to see how hot it actually is outside haha. 

But on to this week. We made another veggietales video that we will post soon. Spoiler alert: it's captain Moroni and Helaman and the 2,000 stripling warriors. It is always a hoot to make them. And there were many peas and blueberries all over the floor. 

We continue to teach Javier. He loves the plan of salvation and said it really brings him hope and explains a lot of things he has thought about throughout his life. He is enjoying our gospel lessons and loves the scriptures we send. He is amazing and I'm so excited for him to continue learning and hopefully be baptized and feel even more hope and joy. 

This week we will be back outside, so watch out Georgia, we're coming for you! 

Love you all and stay sane and safe!

Hermana Nielson :D

Click Here to view Emiline's latest Veggie Tales Episode

Week 73: The Cheese Touch

Good morning New York! 

So this week has been crazy! I feel like I say that every week, but this one really has been. We got to do service early in the week. One day we were supposed to help this lady move lots of rock, but it was super hot so they took us to cracker barrel for our second time. It was so good. And then we moved rock. Found a little road in the mud. 

We helped with Sister Kassow's yard again clearing some beds for her to plant her mint and lemon balm. I like doing service especially outside. I also got to help teach my companions the basics of starting family history work and reviewing/attaching records. It truly is amazing the work that is being done. 

Thursday we had district council and also found out 2 elders in the mission tested positive for quarantine and one is in our zone, and we had zone conference last week. One of my comps is having lots of symptoms, so we went and got her tested on Saturday and will find out the results this week. But we are in full out lock down. I guess full in lock down. But we are going to be fine and might just needs some mental walks for our sanity. So its definitely been a wild ride. But it is comforting to have a personal relationship with God to be able to trust him and his plan. We were sharing Elder Runlands talk, by divine design this week, and what a time to do that. God has a plan, but often we don't know or understand it. And lots of the time we don't even know it is being put in place and worked out. But faith and hope really can bring peace and happiness no matter the situation. 

Love y'all! Stay healthy and away from the cheese touch

Hermana Nielson :D

Week 72: Service Service Service!!!!

Hellooooo to all!

This week has been exhausting but amazing. 

We had zone conference this week. We found out just a few days before, but it was really good. We even got to do it with the Marietta Zone too. So we got to meet the Mission president and his family. They are so cute! He is ready to come in and work and not take excuses. He's also pushing service which is great because the more we have served, the more the word has gotten out and others need service or know of the people who do. So now we get to do lots of service.

This week we got to do lots of service with Saturday being our big day. We learned of a lady moving out that needed help painting her house, so we set up time to come Thursday. Then we got a call Friday that there was an older woman in the ward who has tons of yard work to do that day but was too stubborn to ask for help and didn't want to make anyone else work out in the sun so much. So we tried to coordinate with the missionaries to be able to go over and help, but at such short notice we couldn't change some of our meetings. We called her to tell her that we would be coming the next morning (Saturday) with 7 missionaries to help with her yard. Luckily she wasn't able to work in her yard on Friday and was so grateful for the help! It was amazing and she taught us all the plants she had that were edible and we even tried wild strawberries. They taste like water, but the texture is fun. So then we went home for lunch and then to painting for another 3 1/2 hours. So fun, but so exhausting. We are getting really good at painting ha ha. I'm so grateful that we can get out of the apartment, serve people, and get to know our members. This is such a blessing for us!

Also, for our Facebook page video we had to make we decided to do veggie tales for the Book of Mormon. We bought all these vegetables and made little faces and then went for it. It was hilarious to do, and we find it hilarious still and watch it all the time to laugh. It's on my page if any of y'all missed it and need a good laugh. It is in Spanish, but humor knows no language. 

Love y'all and keep staying safe!

Hermana Nielson :D

Click here to see Sister Nielson's Movie

Week 71: Fireworks?! I Hear Them

Howdy everyone! 

This week has been exhausting but great! We have been doing lots of service for members which is a great way to get to know them because you talk while you do it. So add to our missionary resume: house painter, mover, blind duster. And we'll see what else this week :) 

Our new mission president is awesome! His name is mark harris and he played for the 49ers for all you football fans. He has 5 main focuses of:

1. Jesus Christ - the center of everything, the only way to be a successful missionary

2. We are a family - the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Your Ward is your home. 

3. Book of Mormon/PMG - study both daily, they are divinely inspired

4. Body, Mind, Spirit - eat right, get enough sleep, exercise, the basics!

5. Law of the Harvest - reap what you sow, we work hard so we can play even harder. 

So as part of this we are supposed to do a minimum of 10 hours inspired service a week. So good thing we've been getting practice :)

We also found out that the branch can't be made without meeting, so we are here to lay the foundation and groundwork to help get the members used to the idea and meeting together so it can go quick when we can meet again. So that was nice to kind of find out our direction and next steps.

My companions are awesome! I'm excited for this area and how much fun and work we will have here. 

Love Y'all!

Hermana Nielson :D

 

 

Week 70: Tell Everyone I am on my way!!!

Hello to all! 

We had transfers this week, and I got moved to Acworth. We cover four wards and are trying to start a group/branch. So far the people here have been amazing and so nice. We've been able to do some service which has been really nice. 

My companions are Hermana Clark y Hermana Orr. They are awesome! Sister clark was reassigned after being in Chile for 2 weeks then sent home. And hermana Orr came from the Dominican republic. She was there for 5 weeks. So we are having lots of fun and ready to get this branch together! 

Transfers were crazy because we got calls Monday night to find out where we were going, and were told transfers would be Tuesday night or Wednesday. Tuesday morning we were told they were happening then as soon as possible. So things were pretty crazy Tuesday with packing and transferring different people to different places. 

Right now we are teaching Javier English and the gospel and he is amazing! It's really fun to have our lessons with him in the morning before he has work. He's wanting to practice English because he is going to go back to college to take classes to become a hacker. 

So it's been a really busy week, but I'm so excited for this change and to get this branch made before I leave.

Love y'all! Stay smiling :)

Hermana Nielson :D