Coral Reef North Area 9-30-14

FAMILIA!!
Wow, what a wonderful week it has been!! It sounded like you all were able to have a very productive week as well! I did get the package this week! Thank you so much! It's always great to get something, but please don't feel like you need too! I really am doing great and am loving every minute of life here in Florida! To answer some of your questions: no mom, I have never gotten sick here in Florida. Ain't nobody got time for that!! haha for real the Lord has blessed me so much on my mission. Quick shout out as well to my little sissys! I love you all, and hope Kyle wrecks some domes this week in the Region tennis tournament! Haha it was funny as well to hear that it actually rained in Utah! ;) please if it doesn't rain a day here in FL it's like the world is ending! Just kidding that's a lie, but basically it does rain for a little bit everyday.

I'm sorry I forgot to tell you all last week that it was the end of the transfer so that meant I would be emailing on Tuesday today, but no worries! It's crazy to think that another transfer has already flown by. Time is going way too fast, and it's starting to scare me! I'm starting to feel "old" in the mission and I hate it! Anyway transfer calls came last night, and it turns out my companion Elder Stafford, will be transferring and I will be staying here and training! I'm having a son! whoop whoop! When you train a new missionary it's like a father son relationship so that's where that comes from! I'm super excited to train, it will be a way fun experience to have a new missionary straight off the plane. I will find out tomorow who my son will be in transfer meeting. I'm a little nervous as well, but I know it will all work out!

Just a little bit about our area here in Coral Reef North. Gloria is still super awesome. Sadly, she did not get baptized this weekend, but I know she will! She came to church again, and loved it, and as well she will be coming tonight to a baptism. She's so funny, she calls us our mom for some reason. Whenever we go teach her she always gives us some kind of food as well. Last night she was raging that Elder Stafford is leaving, and said she was going to call President. She's gonna go down for sure though!

Sorry I don't have time to write anymore about stuff that happened this week. Just know that I love you all and I hope you have an incredible week. Prepare this week to hear the words of the prophets! I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. What an incredible priviledge it is to hear the revelations they have received from God. One thing that I have learned is that God will answer our questions. Everyone should come to conference this weekend with some question, and I know that during the talks something that you will hear, or feel will answer your question. Have an awesome week!
Elder Nielsen

Coral Reef North Area- 9-22-14

FAMILIA!!

Wow sounded like another incredible week back in O-town!! First off let me say that Kylie looked gorgeous in her homecoming dress!! Good night!! I hope every guy knows that when I get back they have to have a personal interview with me before they can go on any dates with her!! ;) No joke though. I'm sorry little sisters that I didn't get the time again to respond to your emails! Every week it's just like a mad dash to read from everyone and respond a little something, but just know I love y'all!

This week was another great week here in Coral Reef North! The work is great here, and I am loving every minute of it! Biking is great as well! This week we had a few setbacks in some peoples progression but there were still a lot of other indirect blessings that we saw from the Lord this week. Sadly, Ruben was not baptized this week. This week as we were teaching him more, and things started getting more serious we started to realize that his comprehension levels were not the highest. J his roommate was telling us as well that he is pretty sure he's not all there, so we will see what happens, right now were kind of just giving him a break. We saw an awesome miracle with an incredible lady named Gloria. Her progress has been very slow, but she is progressing. This week we decided that we needed her to commit solidly for baptism and for church or else we were going to drop her and move on. Well on Wednesday we had an incredible lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The member we brought bore an awesome testimony of her baptism and G was able to relate perfectly to her. She finally committed to a date on the 28th, and she finally came to church this past sunday! She still has some doubts about the Book of Mormon and everything but I believe miracles will happen with her!

Funny story, this week I got chased on my bike by a dog as we were riding home one night. I was sketching out cause it was pretty big dog, but I stuck out my foot, and hit it in the nose, and it decided I wasn't worth it and ran off. Haha that was a pretty good adrenaline rush! I'm trying to think of some other funny stories or things that happened during the week and not much is coming to mind! So sorry next week I'll come more prepared! I'll just end as always by saying thank you for all that you have done for me! I have learned so many important life lessons on my mission one of which is the importance of families. In the ward here, there are several recent convert families with no father figure. We're working a lot with these families youth, because without a father they need so much help! I feel so blessed to have been sent to this earth in an incredible family! Thank you so much for all that you have done for me in my life! I know that this is the Lord's work, and that our Savior Jesus Christ lives!

Elder Nielsen

Coral Reef North Area 9-15-14

FAMILIA!
Wow you guys are so awesome! It sounded like you had a great weekend chilling in St. George! It sounded like you had an amazing Regional conference as well! We had stake conference here as well, and it was awesome our mission president came down and talked a ton about member missonary work so that was super boss! Alright so to just answer some of your questions, the bed bugs are basically exterminated. I haven't found any the past 3 days and neither has my companion. Finally! I'm sick of steaming my bed every flipping day! Our ward is so boss. We have members that are always down to just show up to a lesson at the drop of a hat. The english and spanish translation isn't that big of a deal they just have translation at everything. Our ward is basically 50 50 meaning half speak english half spanish. A lot speak both languages though. Umm, about being a district leader. . . It's great I love it! Not much has changed. Basically I just have to help the sisters in our district if they struggle with anything. The best part is just getting to do baptismal interviews! Hopefully that answered all your questions!

This week we had an incredible week here in the promised land! For real Coral reef is the promised land! There is so much great work to be done here, and there are so many people prepared! We saw literally one of the biggest miracles of my mission this past week!  On Thursday, Elder Stafford and I really wanted to find a family. In planning the night before we felt inspired to go to a part of our area, that we both have never been to before. As we started harvesting we left a couple blessings but no one very elect. Then we knock on one door, and a man opens up and the first thing he says to us, "Hey guys, want to come in?" We both were very puzzled but we walked on in, and started talking with him. It turns out, that "all" of his family in Guatemala are members of the church. He told us everytime he visits there he goes to church with them. He also told us how about a year ago him, his wife, and his son, lived in Vermont and the missionaries used to stop by every week, and they had attended church in Vermont several times as well! He then went on to tell us how, that very same morning he had been praying to the Lord, for direction and then that same day we came and knocked his door. He accepted everything and he is now preparing for baptism on the 28th! We still need to meet his wife, we have not met her yet, because of her work schedule but we're excited nonetheless!

We also continued to see miracles this week with our best buds Juan and his roommate Rueben! We saw them literally everyday this week. One day we were running late, and they called us and were like, where are you? Are you coming? haha they are so legit. Everytime we meet with them Juan just soaks all we say up, and remembers a lot of things from when the missionaries taught him before. Rueben is progressing as well. He is working to give up coffee and we will be fasting with him this week as well to help him give it up before Sunday so he can be baptized!

I love this work so much!! There is no greater thing than being able to bring the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ into the lives of the children of God! I hope you all continue to strengthen your testimonies each and every day through personal prayer and scripture study. Because this is The Church of Jesus Christ! I hope you all have an incredible week and I love you!
Elder Nielsen

Coral Reef North Area 9-8-2014

FAMILIA!
Man, you guys are so awesome!! For real! Sissys I'm sorry I don't have time to reply to your emails, but just keep up the good work! To answer some of your questions, the bed bugs are still causing problems. We steam every morning and we've done everything the mission home has told us to do. I guess it just takes time, and they actually think they might be crawling into our house through some corners or something. So we might have to re- caulk the floors as well. Haha yeah I think it would be fair to say that our house is pretty "ghetto". Oh well, as long as they don't bite me I guess I'm chill! ;)

This week was an incredible week! My companion and I felt like we worked as hard as possible this week! That's always the best feeling at the end of the week when you know you've given it your all! I'm not gonna lie the first few days of the week were not easy, we have to bike a lot in this area and it was just brutally hot, but we were able to persevere and see the Lord's promised blessings be fulfilled. One of the biggest miracles we saw was on wednesday, we had just finished a lesson and we were biking down the road and noticed a woman walking her dog. We go up and introduce ourselves and ask to share a prayer right there. She gladly accepted and right after the prayer she just kept saying how she felt "something" during the prayer. We helped her identify that what she felt was the Spirit, and then invited her to be baptized and come to church. She gladly accepted and then yesterday her and her friend both came to church! They loved it and now are preparing for baptism!

We also saw miracles with the less active guy that I talked about last week named Juan. We were visiting him and his roomates almost everyday this week! He always gets super excited about us stopping by and his roomates are super interested as well! One of his roomates is from Mexico and him and Juan actually biked to church yesterday!! It was so legit! Our chapel is a couple miles away from their house as well but they still came and loved it!

This week I also had the privilege of interviewing someone for baptism. Just a fun fact, the girl who I interviewed her Dad, is actually the branch president in Cuba! She got here like 10 months ago and her family got baptized just a few weeks after she left, and then the sisters found her like a month ago and then she was baptized yesterday! I love Cuba. 

I think that is basically it for this week, but just know that I love you all and I truly do appreciate everything that you have done and are now doing for me! I know this is the Lord's work. I'm so grateful to be here in full-time service for the Lord. There is nothing I would rather be doing! I hope you all have an incredible week and that you all make it to the temple sometime this week!
Elder Nielsen

Coral Reef North Area 9-2-2014

We went and hit up the driving range last p day, so GOLF SWAG!

FAMILIA!
Wow thank you all for the emails and pictures as always! I love pics! haha for real though it sounds like everybody had an incredible week! I wanted to say though Dad, don't worry about not emailing for one week. I'm just appreciative that I do get to  hear from you on a regular basis! It sounded like your trip down the grand canyon was incredible as well! Mom, I appreciate as well your comments on obedience! I loved that quote as well that "obedience brings blessings, but exact obedience brings miracles!" I have seen that quote come true so many times in my mission! So don't worry I will continue to be as exactly obedient as possible!

This week went really for us. Elder Stafford is an awesome missionary. He is still pretty green like I said, but he has the desire to serve which is all that matters! We've been working a lot this week with his spanish. It's hard here though, because I have come to realize that the majority of our area speaks English! haha it's definitely a transition going from pure Spanish my whole mission now to just "hood" black people everywhere, but it's way fun! Haha something different happens everyday that's for sure! We've been doing a lot of finding this week, because sadly our family of 6 is not progressing anymore. The Dad just wasn't interested anymore and he just pushed the rest of the family away as well. No worries though because we saw an awesome miracle last night!

We knocked into this super less active guy named Juan who was baptized in 2000. (I know it sounds latin, but he speaks English) He was way cool! He talked about how he knows he needs to come back and how he wants to bring his friends that he lives with! We will be seeing him tonight so hopefully we found some good potential there! I'm so excited to be here in this area, because it has A LOT of potential! Our ward is awesome, and our bishop is exactly like Blaine and Jen's family. He has 7 kids all under the age of 15!

I love you all and I truly appreciate everything you do for me! I love being a missionary. I can't imagine doing anything else with my life right now. The happiness that I have felt on my mission cannot be compared with anything else I've experienced in my life! I know that this is the Lord's work, and that this is His church!
Elder Nielsen

New Area and Companion- Coral Reef North with Elder Stafford 8-25-2014

FAMILIA!!
Wow what an awesome week again to hear from you guys! To answer your question yes mom, I loved how you emailed in pictures! Pics are always fun! Let me just say though, that they did make me feel old! All my little sisters look like they're ten years older than when I left! What the heck is happening!? Haha just kidding, but seriously my mind was blown. I want to shout out to Grandpa Ray, Feather and Molly! I'm sorry I'm not there to hang out with all of you, but I hope you still have an awesome trip! Oh, and you need to send me a pic now of what grandpa looks like after the haircut!

Alright, so now to our week. Wow it has been craziness! Yeah Mom, I'm sorry about how transfers work here that you don't get to know where I'm going, but I like it that way. It builds up the suspense, and makes things more exciting! So, transfers on wednesday were pretty intense because there was recently a new stake made here so there were A LOT of changes with areas, and new areas, and things like that. Anyway my new area is awesome! I'm here in Coral Reef North! It's still in Miami, but way down south, pretty close to Homestead. Also in our area, is a little suburb of Miami called Richmond Heights. My new companion is Elder Stafford. He is from Holiday, UT. He is an awesome missionary! He just finished getting trained, so he is still pretty green, but he is a hard worker which is always good! Our area is still pure bike! haha I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be on bike my whole mission, but no worries I love it! I already love it here in this area! Our ward is actually a bilingual ward. So at church there were talks given in Spanish and English, so the whole translation thing makes it even more fun! Our area is very, um how do I put this. . . humble. Well I should say half of our area. There is a canal right in the middle, and on one side you have Richmond Heights which is like very humble people, then you cross the canal and on the other side you have the biggest houses I've ever seen where everybody drives BMW's and Mercedes! It's the strangest thing, but that actually is how it is in a lot of areas here in Florida!

Alright sorry for all the random details. Tuesday night Isaac was baptized in Miami Lakes and then Wednesday we left! He is so solid. I'm sad I won't see him for a while, BUT he promised us we would meet at the temple in a year so that's something to look forward too! Here we have some super sweet people were working with. We have a family of 6 that wants to get baptized real bad, they just weren't able to make it to church on sunday which was lame! There is a lot of English here which is weird cause I haven't spoke english my whole mission but I'm getting used to it!

Sorry I don't have time to write more, but I love you all, and I know that this is the Church of Jesus Christ! I love being a missionary and I am learning so much!!
Elder Nielsen
Oh and p.s. 2 more random facts our house has bed bugs which sucks, and I was also called as District Leader.

Miami Lakes South Area- 8-19-2014

FAMILIA!
Summer is officially over for you guys! Don't worry though it still feels like summer here in Florida! I really do love reading all of your emails because you all write just like you talk! If you were to put all your letters in front me and they didn't say whose was whose I can guarantee I would always be able to tell who's it was! To answer some of your random questions as always, Yes mom the bag works perfect. I'm good don't worry about sending me anything. I don't really know what the deal was with the mad dog pictures but we just decided to do it. Alright anyway back to our week here this week.

This week was pretty crazy. First off we ended up helping 3 different people move this week. It was crazy, we lifted so much crap. I'm pretty sure my forearms doubled in size this week from all the lifting so I should be ready to rock some domes when I get back. haha just kidding but I was seriously so sore after. We also were exchanges again literally EVERYDAY this week. That was not healthy. The Zone Leaders couldn't really help us out this week with exchanges so we were flying solo. So to explain that a little bit what happens is usually either me or Elder White will go into Miami Gardens with Elder Senatus (the elder with the hurt knee) and the other will stay here in Miami Lakes with Elder Rodriguez. To be honest I have no idea why President has kept it like this the whole transfer, but no worries it's over now. So yes, this week I spent more time with other missionaries than with my actual companion. It's all good though because it really has been fun! It's been crazy trying to juggle all these different things but we have made it work and have still been able to see miracles!

I want to share what went down this week with our main man Isaac who I wrote about last week! He's so legit! He has now come to church 2 weeks in a row and we have taught him everything and he was interviewed on Saturday night. But for some reason on Saturday night he still felt like he needed more time before his baptism to give up coffee. Even though he had already gone 2 days straight without it. Then on Sunday as well he was still not willing to be baptized that day. We were getting kind of frustrated because he just kept saying that he needed to learn more when in reality he already knows so much and he passed his interview with flying colors!  The yesterday we had a lesson with him and he still said he didn't feel ready. We were not having that because we knew that he was prepared! We explained to him everything that he had done had prepared him to meet the LORD's standard of baptism. And that him setting an expectation higher than that, was not fair to him or to the Lord. We had him kneel down right then and there with us and pray and ask God about his baptism on Tuesday. He offered the simplest, most humble prayer I have ever heard. It was literally one sentence! After the prayer, the Spirit was undeniable. We invited him, and he finally said YES! We will be having his baptismal service tonight at 7 and we are so pumped! The other crazy part about it as well is that today will be my last day here in Miami Lakes! Transfer calls came last night and both me and Elder White will be transferring! That does not usually happen that both elders leave, but I'm pretty sure that means Elder White will be going zone leader and then Elder Rodriguez will be coming here because he's basically served here this last transfer! I'm not sure where I will be going but I will find out tomorrow at transfer meeting.

I love missionary work! It certainly hasn't been easy here in Miami Lakes, but I have learned so many lessons and I feel like I have grown so much in my time here! I love this Gospel, and I know this is the Lord's work. I love you all so much and I just invite you to continue to increase your faith in our savior Jesus Christ. Have an awesome week.
con amor,
Elder Nielsen