Monday, June 29, 2015

Week 19

Monday, June 29, 2015

Hi Mom!!!!!

I get my new companion tomorrow. According to the zone leader, she is "The Bomb" I am excited to meet her!

This week for work has been really hard, there was a fiesta here in Goa, and so everyone was busy partying and eating tons of food. I ate blood this week! It was nasty, But I can say that I ate it! Never again of my own free will and choice, but if offered again, I dont have a choice....

Anyways... back to the important things in life as a missionary.... A lot of people just don't want to listen. They are all busy, and doing things, we tracked for two hours on Friday with no lessons and no return appointments. It was really hard. Hopfully this week will be better and more productive! I need to not be lazy in magTagalog around the house for conversational stuff, that is my weakest thing. Once I get that, I can then teach easier, and more fluently! YAYA!!!!

It was really hard to say good bye. It is also really hard to know that I wont see almost all of these missionaries again in this life, but I am so grateful for facebook! It allows us to be able to keep in touch with those that are on the other side of the world! and with those people that are so amazing! I am so grateful for it!!!!

I am so glad that you love the house! It will be much harder to come home to it though than I ever thought.... This past week, we had a dinner appointment. He is a police man, and really rich here, so they have a really big house, like american style. To be completely honest, it bothered me being inside, and having it be so big. Then we were visiting with Tatay Lorenzo, and his granddaughter Julianne, and she was asking me do you and your siblings all have their own rooms, and I said yes, and then she asked, do you have two floors, and I said yes, and the thought came to me that I have so much that just can't exist here because of reasons, like everyone having their own car, or own room, or anything like that. Just becuase that is not how the Philippines works or really.... like I don't know.... but I am excited to go home, but not at the same time.

Time is flying by! I cannot believe that it has been 4 1/2 months! it is way to crazy! I have 10 transfers left! and maybe 1 here in Goa. It is way to crazy! My kabahay and temporary companion has 12 weeks left, and then she is gone, and her trainee gets to stay here. I am excited to have a new missionary in the house! It isn't me!!!!

So!!!!! I just found out that I am staying here in Goa until September!!!! YAY!!!!!..... my next companion leaves in August to go home...

What Spencer wants does not surprise me at all.... of course he wants to go to a Cardinals game! HAHAHA Have fun in St. George! We are having a district BBQ on Monday to celebrate the 4th of July with the three Americans in the district. I am super excited!

So yesterday in my personal study, I was reading in Alma 13 verse 7, about the priesthood, and I have heard all my life that the priesthood is the power of God, but this really made it hit! This is an eternal power! This is the power that our Father in Heaven used before he was our Father in Heaven. We have this power here on the earth now! It is so crazy how much our Father in Heaven trusts us! I am so grateful for my opportunity to teach about our Father in Heaven and the priesthood and to share the love of Father with all of his children. They are truly amazing! I love our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ! I love the fact that I get to share about Him and His love every day!  I know that He lives and the Spirit testifies of Him and of Heavenly Father!!!! The Church is true!

I love you tons and tons!!! I will be home sooner than we both think! It is so crazy how time flies! Be happy and come what may and love it!

Love Sister Emma Nelson

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Pictures









Week 18

Monday, June 22, 2015

Hi mom!

I am really good! We had an awesome district activity earlier! We met at the church and played games and just hung out as a district. Next week we will lose half of our district it will be new! So that will be fun! I got my package at mission tour! It made me so happy! I realized that I have a peanut butter problem, when I get three jars of something peanut butter and then Peanut butter M&ms, which of course melted, but a night in the freezer, and man are they good! I have also sent you some pictures and more will be coming, I have just been really lazy, and haven't tried sending any more.... I need to though.... :)

Our investigators are good! They are still progressing... I worry about two of them. They are really attached to Sister Gregoiro, and he doesn't really like me, but he speaks half Bicol, half Tagalog, and I speak half Tagalog, and half English.... So it is a small problem... I love them, it is just a struggle expressing myself, and they have a hard time understanding me. So pray really hard for them that they will like my new companion... even though it is not about companions, it is about their commitment to the gospel, still, I don't want to lose them... I still only understand about half of what anyone says to me, and in lessons that I struggle with, I dont really know where to go because I don't understand, so I feel like I am not listening closely enough to the spirit so that he can tell me what to say... grr... Sorry for my rant...

So are they being really strict with water use because of the drought? Is there a drought? I realized a couple weeks ago how long I have been away from the world, and how much has happened in the last couple of months that could be life changing, and I wouldn't really know about it. Most of the TV that we watch is either dramas, or detective shows, and they are in Tagalog! So I sit there, and watch the TV like a little kid does, just watching the pictures, not really understanding what is going on :)

Sister Gregorio is trunky! like she has already given me the letters for members in the ward last week, and she leaves next week. Trunky trunky trunky! I love sister Baird. We also met the other American sisters in the mission!!! So that was way cool! to talk with them...Sister Gregorio was super stressed, so we just kinda did it, and when we live with the STLs we can so we did.

The weather is hot, but yesterday I was able to have my hair down the first time in two ish months. So that was nice, I forgot how long my hair is and it has grown about an inch and a half if not more while here so YAY!

You still have yet to tell me our new address! Stink pot! Sounds like fun for next year! This month has gone by sooo fast! There is a festival here in Goa so this week will be interesting for work. I hope that we can find new people to teach so that it will be a good area for my new companion.

Sounds like fun for the new house!!!! I am so glad that you love it! It looks so pretty it the pictures! Speaking of where are my pictures of it?

I love you tons! I will try to send more pictures!

Love Sister Emma Nelson

Week 17

Monday, June 15, 2015

Hi mom!

I am really good today! Sister Baird came over, and the other sisters and we made candy! it was really fun!

This has been an ok week. On Thursday, we got to teach the district meeting! It was on keeping the Sabbath day holy. It was really good! As missionaries everyday is "Sunday" for us, so we talked about how we can make Sunday even more special for us. It was good! Last Monday we had a family home evening with a family that is preparing to go to the temple in October. They are wonderful! We taught the lesson on Faith and I love them so much. It reminded me of us and having family home evening. I miss yall. So then on Wednesday we had a lesson with some youth, the oldest is 12...? and her sister is 9. They are adorable, and they speak Ilocono, Sister Gregorio's native language. I was so happy in that lesson, and that is the key, to be happy and to be smiling, because our message is a happy one, and something that brings happiness to everyone! Even if they don't fully understand me, it is ok because they can understand the spirit, these two girls are Jessica and Danica, and they have a Baptismal date on the 25 of July!

So we have some other investigators that are preparing for baptism on July 25. A tatay, and his granddaughter, Tatay Lorenzo and sister Julieanne! Tatay is about 70, and sister Julieanne is about 13. They are so amazing and so prepared! Sister Vicky will hopefully get married soon so that she can get baptized. We also have other investigators that are getting a baptismal date this week! I really hope that they come to church next week, and that they have a good experience there.

So a couple weeks ago, we were on exchanges, and I was with sister Marzan, and we were walking, of course ;) and this one guy, he comes up to me and he is like, "Sister, you need to give me that book about David Smith!" and I was like oh my gosh! what the.... and we were on exchanges and Sister Marzan was like "we dont have a David Smith, but we have a Joseph Smith!" and the guy was like "no, its David Smith!" and then sister Marzan was like "Tatay are you drunk", and he was like, "no!" it was just funny about David Smith :)

So speaking of exchanges, we had surprise exchanges this week! I got to work with sister Araja! She is so cool! I love her! we went to the Del Castillo family, and then after the lesson, we asked them for  referrals, and Sister Esther gave us the name of her neighbor, and so we went to go contact! Well the sister wasn't home, but her husband was, and guess what!!!! He is a less active!!!!! We then shared with him Alma 26:37 and sang I am a Child Of God. it was an amazing lesson! Amazing that we got the referral and then found him. The Lord knows his sheep and her knows how to help us find them!!!! It was soooo cool!

So the next day, we had plans, but then they fell through, so we didn't really know what to do. So we were walking, and Sister Gregorio was walking with the member that we had with us, and I was walking behind, fanning myself with a pamphlet, because you know its way too hot. Anyways, I made a goal to give the pamphlet away. So we walked by this house and I saw a dad and a kid, and I walked by, about 3 steps later I called out to sister Gregorio, and walked back to the house, and I opened my mouth. I was petrified. I don't remember what I said, but the mom let us into the yard. It was an amazing lesson! We didn't get a specific return appointment, but I hope that we can go back! I know that it was because of the Lord that helped me have that random moment of courage that let me OYM. I am grateful for him in all that he allows me to do in this work. I just need to do it more!

I am supper worried about this week, I get to lead all of the lessons all of the planing, everything.  I am sooooo worried that I will mess up! I know that is really dumb, but yeah... This week we have mission Tour and I am excited for that! I don't think that I will have interviews again with President until August... I think.... Things in the companionship are ok, I just continue to pray for love and humility and charity to love her and the people and the work and to take everything as it comes!

I will be home sooner than we all feel sometimes! Promise! I can hardly believe that it has been four months this week! It has flown by! The days are long, the weeks are long sometimes, but it is flying by! In two weeks, I will also be getting a new companion, I am so excited to be able to start again, knowing what I know now about me and about the people!  I hope that it gets better!

Mom, enjoy every moment, don't wish away anything. Enjoy everything. Those moments when you miss me, when everything seems hard, when everything is happy, everything. Life goes by too fast. Enjoy :)  So are you living at the house then? I should tell you, around tomorrow or this week, you will be getting a letter from me. I wrote it about 3 weeks ago and so yeah, I am past that and we will just move on. I only sent it because it has the instructions for pouch mail, but you might as well just send it through the regular mail, it will take just as long.

Well, that's all that I have for right now. Just be happy, and enjoy everything in life! and your oven... dont ask....

I love you all tons!

Love Sister Emma Nelson

Week 16

Mknday, June 8, 2015

HI Mom!

I am good today! Happy to be alive, and well! Happy to be with you in Hawaii ;) the work this week has been good. We haven't been able to get back into the house with the dad with the questions, it makes me sad, but as long as we keep trying, we are succeeding, but!!! We do have this new investigator! they are really cool! It is a bunch of families that have a bunch of little kids. they are so cute. Anyways Saturday, we watched the film finding faith in Christ with them, and it was really good for me, I loved the story in the bible about the father that goes to Christ and asks him to heal his son, and Christ asks him, do you believe, and the father answers I do, help thou my unbelief. I totally applied it to me. I believe that I can learn a language quickly, but when those hard times come, when I  cant explain myself, or no one can understand me. I begin to doubt. I need to remember to pray for him to strengthen my unbelief. Back to the family, they are really cool, we told them that we would come and get them to bring them to church, but yesterday, they forgot, and yeah, that was hard, but they said they would remember next week! I hope that they do!

Then yesterday we went on splits. and It was ok, nothing too exciting. I love working with my companion, thats all ;)

On Wednesday we went on a surprise field trip to Naga!!!! That was fun! Sister Gregorio had to go take an English exam, and it went really well!!! I ate McDonalds for the first time in 15 weeks! I miss Taco Bell more..... she did really well. she is really good at English.

Then on Friday, we had zone training. It was really good. It was on the Atonement. I was asked with other sisters to share my testimony of the Atonement and how it applies to missionary work. The enabling power of the atonement has grown so much for me these last 16 weeks. I know that without this power, we could not do anything. Because of this power, we always have a friend that knows how we feel, and what we need to help us get through this hard time, we do not know how our investigator feels, but Christ does, and we know that he can help them and we can tell them to turn to Christ in those times of need. It was a wonderful zone training.

The weather has been soooo hot. It has also rained the last two nights. I love it! I love the rain. We are coming to the end of summer and on to rainy! not really I still have like 2 months of summer.... Ewww.

It sounds like you are having a blast in Hawaii!! Thank you for the little thoughts every week. they make me happy ;) Have fun shopping! I hope that you are enjoying your drives! I love the sunsets! I have me really pretty pictures that I will be able to send soon! I am glad that you are both distressing!

I love you and hope that you have a really good time in Hawaii! and that everything keeps calm for you!

Love Sister Emma Nelson

Monday, June 22, 2015

Week 15

Monday, June 1, 2015

Hi mom!!!!

I am so excited for Friday! I should get your package then!!!!! I am so excited to have something from home.... And to see your handwriting!!! I am such a nerd.....

This has been a really good week! on Tuesday we had exchanges, and I got to lead my area! I was so nervous about being able to do it and about my ability to speak. but I did it and it went so well! Exchanges have made all the difference this week! They have made the rest of the week so good! I actually like really taught a lesson and the people understood. It was really good! We have 6 new investigators! I am so excited! They are really awesome! We have found a new family! The
Dad kept asking all of these deep questions that no one knows the answers to but us. Like where we are going after this life, what is the purpose of this life, and it was so cool! I am so excited to teach them again!!!

I do have a new Kabahay! Sister Araja! She is from Manila. She goes home in September! She is really amazing, and has helped me in learning Tagalog.

Things with me and Sister Gregorio are awesome. After Exchanges, like we just did really well! We have been getting better at teaching together, and I hope that it continues!

Yesterday was hard for me. I was exhausted. My body was sore, and I had to try my hardest to stay awake in sacrament meeting. We also only had one investigator at church and they don't really count as progressing because their mom doesn't like the church, so it was really hard. I also woke up yesterday and thought that it was Monday, so that also was a struggle.... but I had a really good personal study yesterday! Sister Gregorio took a nap, so I had like a two hour personal study! I read from 2 Nephi, the last couple chapters! So good! I had a question about them actually, in chapter 32, verse 6. What does this mean? Are there more things that we have to do? I thought that it was interesting... then I also read from January 2015 Liahona!! It was soooo good! I loved the article about President Benson and his wife!!! I also loved what the Youth Presidency said about the mutual theme this year! I thought it was sooo good! I love our leaders and what they have to share with us! I also really loved the article titled, A Potato for a teacher talking about always serving, and following the promptings of the spirit, even when all we have is a potato! It was so good! You need to read it! Anyways... :)

Of course thats what Spencer is doing! He has always been good at saving and making money! Haha, then there's me, I can't wait to move back home! I also figured out the reasons for blondes like me.... to help Father laugh.... he has to have a good sense of humor because he made me.... and then sent me here.... yeah, good sense of humor! Really though :) That is so exciting about Andrew!!!! I am excited to hear how it goes! I love that little sweet heart of a sister! Just enjoy her now! Enjoy every minute! Life is way to short! play with her for me, babies, barbies, anything. I miss her hugs.... She is too sweet to not have friends in the new ward! I will pray for this too!

I am so excited about the house! I cant wait for the video! I bet that you love the kitchen! I miss american kitchens...  besidesthe point....

Ahaha thats funny about Spencer!!!! It took me the longest time to figure that paragraph out.... I am way to blonde for my own good.... That is so sad to hear about Elder Perry. How is Elder..... Scott? Hales? I don't remember the other one... do we have to wait for conference again to learn who the new one is? It has been to long...

I will make it with the contacts until December.... I think....I will be ok!

I am excited for you to be in Hawaii!!! We will be so close!!!!!!! I cannot believe that it is already June! It is way to crazy! I have 28 days until I get a new companion! I am excited! kinda....

I love you tons!!! thank you for your prayers and faith! I love you! I have what you tell me at the end of every letter hanging up on my wall!


Love Sister Emma Nelson