Another Crazy Week...

Dear loved ones,

This week was super busy and crazy but we were able to see so many good things. To start off on Monday we had to drive up to Albuquerque for a meeting with the other STL's and zone leaders. the meeting was on Tuesday and President Guffey trained us on a lot of things and I felt super motivated to back to our zone and work hard. The best part is that I got to see Sister Hazen (trainer), Elder Contreras(first zone leader that I had for 4 transfers) and Hermana Thompson(my last STL). I got so close to all of them and it was so nice to see them even if it was only for a couple of hours. 

On Wednesday night we went to young women's to meet all the girls. It has always been a dream of mine to work with the young women because I know the sisters that served in my home ward made a huge impact on my life and I want to be able to do the same thing here. All of the girls are awesome and I asked if we could teach a lesson on one of the upcoming Sundays and that turned into Sister Olson and I teaching the combined young men and young women's lesson this upcoming Sunday. I'm super excited. I feel like working in the YSA for 8 Months really prepared me to work with the youth.

We met with David a couple times this week and oh boy is he a rascal but we love him so much. He knows the church is true but he likes to mess with us a lot and make things difficult. He was supposed to pray about getting baptized on June 17th and when we got to his lesson we asked if he had prayed and he said he would get baptized but then we we asked again just to make sure we heard him right and he said to ask him in June and then we asked him if he would say yes in June and he said "I'll say yes but ask me in 4 days." I don't know why he has to add an extra step when we already know he is getting baptized but whatever floats Davids boat.

I went on exchanges with Hermana Rinderknecht in her area and we had so much fun. Their area is really hard to find but we were able to find 4 new investigators and each one of them has so much potential. My favorite finding situation was after stopping by an investigator who wasn't home and we were sitting in the car trying to decide where to go next when two girls came walking down the street. I rolled down my window and yelled "Hola!" and their faces were terrified. We got out of the car and started talking to them. They could not stop laughing because they could not believe they were talking to strangers but as soon as we told them about the Book of Mormon and that Jesus Christ came to the Americas they got super quiet and the spirit was so strong. They couldn't explain how they were felt except that it was different from anything they had ever felt before. The Hermanas are going back this week to teach them the Restoration.

I had to give a talk yesterday in church and it was the first time in my life that I was the closing speaker and I was soo nervous but everything went okay and I think I only saw a few people sleeping through my talk. I love 4th ward. It's like 90% older couples and they are all so sweet. Our Bishop set of a "5th Sunday" activity for 3rd hour all on member missionary work and he had all the members sit in groups of 4's and role play. He told us he was trying to have a giant district council without the members knowing that is what he was doing. It went really well and the members has awesome one liners to invited their friends to activities.

Last night we still needed to find 2 more new investigators to reach our weekly goal and we were praying so hard that we would be able to find them. We felt prompted to stop by a former family. The wife started talking to us at the door step and told us she would love to make a return appointment with us and then her husband came out and told us to come in and sit down. To be honest he did not seem like the nicest guy at first and as we were sitting he told us "you wont convince me." for a second I thought he was about to yell at us but then he opened up and told us how he wanted God in his life and he didn't know what to do. We ended up staying for almost an hour and by the end he just kept telling us to never give up on them and to do whatever it takes to make their family happy! We are going back over tonight to teach them again and I can't wait. I know God has a plan and he will lead us to who is ready.

I love you all so much! I hope you all have a great week! 

Love,

Sister Nye

Elder Contreras and Hermana Thompson

David after his lesson

 MLC

MLC

 

We're not in YSA anymore...

HELLOOO EVERYONE!

I have officially moved 30 miles down the free way but let me tell you, family wards are a whole other party. I had totally forgotten what it was like to be in a big family ward with babies and grandparents. It feel just like the Issaquah 1st ward but the Mexican version. 

My new companion is Sister Olson and she is soooo funny and so hard working. We started laughing as soon as we saw each other and we haven't stopped since. She is from West Haven Utah and has been out a transfer longer than me. Thank goodness she has already been serving in the area for 2 transfers because dang there is so much to know. The first day was a little overwhelming. I haven't ever worked with so many different lists in the mission and memorizing the area is not going as smoothly as I would have hoped but I know I'll figure it out by the time I leave. 

It has been a lot of fun to teach every age group and families... ahhh I love it. We started teaching a family we met this week and the 12 year old daughter is so prepared and ready to follow Jesus Christ and the parents aren't to far behind. Jackie (12 year old) told us she felt so much peace and love. I just wanted to cry the spirit was so strong. This was just a family we went up to talk to on their porch so I know all of you have friends that are ready to hear this message. 

One of our investigators is David. He is in his 60's and I'm pretty sure was in some sort of biker gang. I don't know why but we just became instant friends as soon as we met. He is so sassy which makes it fun because then I can be sassy back. David knows the Book of Mormon is true and that the church has been restored. His only hold up is that he doesn't want to pray about baptism because he says God will tell him when he is ready and he doesn't need to worry about it. I personally think he is just a little scared but that he has already gotten his answer to be baptized. 

Sorry this email has been a weird one. My brain is kinda all over the place. haha. 

I love you all so much!!!!

Love,

Sister Nye

The picture of sister Vasquez is monumental. My STL's took it on our last day together when sister V put her hand on my shoulder (which was the closest she has ever gotten to me.) hahaha. 

Sorry Denise for the pictures. This was a recent converts home and they told us we had to hold the snakes. I was laughing so hard when it was on Sister Olson's head. It was disgusting and afterward the son found snake skin in my hair >_<

Goodbye YSA

Hello Loves,

Where do I even begin? This has been such a crazy week but wow it ended even crazier! So many things.....

First, Nelly got baptized! Holy smokes what a miracle! She was supposed to have her baptism interview on Tuesday but it had to be cancelled and rescheduled for Thursday at 5 but there was an emergency inspection of the barracks on fort bliss so we rescheduled for 7:30 and then we got a call from Nelly saying they found cocaine in the barracks and they were not allowed to leave at all. I was panicking (maybe laying on the floor in the institute building) and our ward mission leader was throwing out ideas like have a face-time interview! Long story short our mission president approved it and Nelly was able to be interview by our District leader while she was still on base. The next day she was baptized and all the stress and worry was worth it! I love her so much and I know she is going to make a huge impact on so many people.

Second, we had a tarantula in our apartment on the wall by Sister V's bed. I have never been so terrified in my life. We got the Elders that live in our apartment complex to come get it before district council. Elder Kirkham picked it up with his hands and brought it to the meeting. It was soooo gross. (Pictures will be included)

Third, on Saturday I got the Transfer call! I am...staying in El Paso. hahaha. I am being moved to a family ward on the East side of the mountain which is funny because as the YSA missionaries we covered that area too so it wont be to big of a change. I was called to be a Sister Training Leader which is awesome because I get to go on exchanges with all the Sisters and Hermanas! My new companion is Sister Olsen and I have been told she is funny and crazy so I am sure we will work well together! haha. 

I cannot put into words how thankful I was to talk to my family yesterday. they are all doing so good and I miss them so much. Afterwards when we were driving to our dinner I could not comprehend that I had just talked to them and seen them face to face. It felt like a dream! I was blessed with the absolute best family! 

It is so weird that I wont be in YSA anymore. My brain can't comprehend it. As I was packing last night is felt surreal. I am so thankful for the months I got to serve here. Even up until this last week I had so many things that I needed to learn from the members in this ward. 

Well next time I email I will be in a library 30 minutes away from the library I am currently at! I can't wait to let you all know what happens this week!

I love you so much!!!

Love,

Sister Nye

 

 

$20 DOLLARS RICHER

Hello everyone that I love,

Well another week of things not going my way...haha ha ha ahhhhh. Once again Id rather not focus on it. To sum up the bad stuff we just had a lot of investigators going through trials and problems that are making it hard for them to progress. 

So Nelly gets baptized on Friday!! We are so excited and she is honestly the most adorable person I have ever met. She cannot wait. She is in the military and they just gave her unit a new rule where they always have to have a "battle buddy". They have to be with someone 24/7 and cant leave the barracks without a companion...sounds like a mission. Anyways that was making it a little difficult to leave because no one wanted to come to church with her or the lessons. She might have sneaked out, but I'm not saying anything ;)

Okay so I have to talk about our weekend because I cannot even put into words how happy this story makes me.

It was about 9 pm and we had just tried by a referral but the person was getting ready to leave so we couldn't meet so we decided to walk around the apartment complex to this other guy smoking on his porch. We asked him if he needed any service done and that led into the most awesome conversation of my whole mission(not very spiritual but awesome). I told him we were missionaries and he asked where our church was because he wanted to go. We told him what the cross streets were and he told us he would ride is mobility chair there. I tried to give him a Book of Mormon but he refused because he wanted to pay for it and I told him it was free. He then said he would just buy one from the Bishop the next day at church. ----Fast forward a few minutes later when he is trying to give me a mosquito repellent thing and I refused to take it and he said "Don't deny me this service." and I told him "You denied my Book of Mormon." so he grabbed the book from my hand and gave me the repellent. Then he goes inside and grabs us more batteries for the repellent thing and takes out his wallet. In my mind I was thinking "oh no...". He takes out $20 and shoves it into my hand. At this point I am reaching as far over his porch fence to give it back to him but he says "Your hand is about to get slapped!" so I backed away. Long story short we walked away $20 bucks richer and best part of the story HE WENT TO CHURCH! hahaha. He gave the bishop and $80 donation even though the Bishop insisted that he did not need to. The guys name is Paco. He is 71 years old from Brooklyn. This all probably made zero sense but hopefully you get the gist. Now he wants to be baptized and we are going over tonight with another set of missionaries to pass him off.

Ahh I love the mission. 

This might be my last week in YSA... we will see. Maybe I will serve one more transfer here and hit halfway. That would be crazy.

I hope all is going well! I love you all so much!

Sister Nye

Brother and Sister Anderson!

Hello Lovely family & friends,

This week was good and hard. We have been working with so many great people but the adversary is using all of his sneaky tricks to stop their progress. I don't want to dwell on that though because there is no need. I'd rather write about the good things that happened this week!

On Monday we got a text from one of our ward members letting us know that he set up and appointment with us for his friend Nelly. Earlier in the day he had been "thinning out" his wallet and needed to get rid of the 3 Prince of Peace cards we had given him. He gave two to his friends and one dropped on the floor and guess who picked it up? NELLY! She asked what it was and it gave our member a reason to talk about our church and he drew the plan of salvation for her. She was super interested and wanted to meet. That night we taught her the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ and she loved it. The next night we met with her again and she had actually ready the introduction and 1 Nephi 1 like we had invited her to do(this rarely gets done). The plan of salvation clicked with her and she asked to meet again. So on Thursday we meet with her and she brought her friend Dean who is a non practicing Christian. Before we say the opening prayer Nelly says "I don't even care that Dean is here or what he will think. I want to move forward and be baptized!" I think my jaw dropped. Sister V and I were speechless. Long story short she is on date for May 12th and she is so excited. She came to church yesterday and loved it. One of my favorite things about Nelly is how she asks questions. She will say "What do WE believe about ____?" and "What do WE do when ____?" I love that she uses the word "we" and she already considers herself part of this church...ahh she makes me so happy.

Sister V and I spoke in church this week. I talked about the Prince of Peace and missionary work. You would not believe how much I cried. I am truly my mothers daughter. In the first 5 seconds of being at the pulpit I looked at everyone in the congregation and started crying. It all hit me that I have been serving these people for 7 months and I'm pretty sure in 2 weeks I will be transferred. I love this ward so much and everything that they have done for me. 

I hope everyone is doing well. When things get hard I think about all of you and it makes me feel better. I am always praying for you and hoping the best. Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us and although it can be so hard we need to rely on him and his timing.(that is my goal this week)

I love you all. 

Sister Nye