January 8, 2018

Hello everyone!! 

Johnny got baptized this week which was awesome and also such a roller coaster. When I met Johnny he had been taking the lessons for 3 months and was on the 3rd lesson. He was struggling to keep commitments and the things he was being taught weren't sticking but right before I arrived he started to take everything very seriously and on Christmas he told us he want to be baptized in two weeks. I'll be honest, I didn't know if it was possible but my companion and I decided be would do everything in our power to make his goal a reality. We met with him everyday for two weeks, got him interviewed and everything ready. He was scheduled to be baptized on Friday the 5th of January and on Wednesday we had a lesson with him in the morning and he was so excited and ready but then later that night we got a text from him apologizing and cancelling his baptism. We tried calling but he wouldn't answer and none of the member could get a hold of him. We were so sad. Luckily the next day he called us and told us the baptism was back on and that he wanted to meet with us. We met Thursday night and it turns out he was just very nervous and anxious about being baptized. He also thought that after baptism everyone would forget about him. After assuring him that no one would forget about him and the blessings of baptism we were back on. We had to tell everyone that the baptism was back on because Johnny had told everyone it was cancelled. We got speakers lined up the night before and thank heavens everything worked out. We prayed that there would be a lot of support and over 40 people came and the room was packed. I was running on adrenaline and emotions. The good news is he was baptized and he was glowing! He was confirmed yesterday and received the priesthood. We already have plans to go to the temple with him to do baptisms for the dead! 

Johnny threw us for a loop this week but I am so thankful that God hears our prayers and even if he hadn't been baptized this week I know it is all in Gods timing. 

This week our YSA branch is being dissolved into a ward and we still get to be the missionaries so I am super excited! More people to meet! 

Oh! One last story about my favorite investigator we have. His name is Eddy. He is in his late 70's and from Jamaica. This week we were reading 2 Nephi 31 with him and out of the blue he asked us about marriage. Our ward mission leader told him about The Family a proclamation to the world  and from the other room his wife starts yelling things like "you have no marriage" "you have already been baptized" over and over and over. Poor Eddy didn't know what to do. At one point his wife turned on the blender and he got up and told her to stop so he could hear us which made her even more mad. We are are worried about him and what this means for him and the church. His wife does not like the church but Eddy told us he knows it is true. We are praying that we will be able to help him and that his wife's heart will be softened. 

I love you all so much!!!

Love,

Sister Nye

January 2, 2018

HOW IS IT 2018?! 

Okay guys this is so crazy. I cannot believe another year has gone by. The time is flying so fast. Blah...its it getting kinda stressful. Chills are literally going through my body. 

Well hello everyone and happy new year! 

It has been a pretty normal week. Holidays don't feel like they used to but they are still great in a different way. Our investigators are doing good and three of them are on date for baptism. If everything goes right this week we should have a baptism for our investigator Johnny on Friday. I haven't been here to long but it is crazy to see the difference that has come in these peoples lives already. 

We also got to go on exchanges and I got to be with Sister Vasquez! It was so fun to be with her again. It felt just like old times but we are a lot better missionaries now than we were almost a year ago. 

On Sunday we had to be back in our apartment by 6 pm for new years eve and we couldn't leave until this morning... I don't know if any of you remember me doing that last year for something called "a day with the Lord" and I read the entire Book of Mormon in 16 hours. It was the same thing but the activities were different. Instead it was more a time of reflection. I had 13 envelopes over the course of the 1 1/2 days to open and each had a conference talk or scriptures to read with a list of questions to answer. One of my favorite envelopes revolved around my patriarchal blessing and the inspiration I could receive from it.

There was also a scripture found in one of the envelopes that I really liked. It's Helaman 8:14-15 and it says:

"14 Yea, did he not bear record that the Son of God should come? And as he lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, even so shall he be lifted up who should come.

15 And as many as should look upon that serpent should live, even so as many as should look upon the Son of God with faith, having a contrite spirit, might live, even unto that life which is eternal."

I feel so grateful for my savior. I know because of him we will all live again. I have been able to see the gospel of Jesus Christ change lives, even my own. I know that Heavenly Father loves us so much and he wants us to have ALL the blessing he has. That is why he created this plan for us. He wants us to be happy and he wants us to find joy. Life can be absolutely crazy and the world is getting darker and darker but I know that we can find peace through this gospel. I honestly have no idea where I would be with out my Savior. He is everything to me which makes me want to do everything I can do in return for him. 

Sorry this email is short but I gotta go!

I love you all so much!!!

Sister Nye

December 18, 2017

HELLO EVERYONE!

I made it in one piece to Albuquerque the land of... not a lot of Hispanics. I just came from a place where two sets of Spanish missionaries cover the same area as one English ward and now I am in ABQ where one set of Spanish missionaries cover two ENTIRE stakes. How the tables have turned.

This email is going to be real quick update! So far I love it up here! The missionary work is way different but the members are really nice and want to be involved a ton. We had a family signed up to carol with us every night last week so that was really cool. I haven't been here to long so I can't say to much about how teaching is going but we has some potential investigators and a couple solid investigators that we just need to make the time to see and contact.

Ever since I got here I have fallen asleep praying every single night because I am completely exhausted but I wouldn't have it any other way! My new companion Sister Peterson is a sweet heart has has been such a big help! She really loves the people in our ward and branch! that alone makes the work so good. When you have a love for the people it is so much easier to give everything and serve them! 

Hopefully next week I will have more to report on but for now just now I am loving this time up here in the freezing cold.

I love the church. I love that it is the same and just as true anywhere you go in the world. It is a testimony to me that our Lord is at the head of this church and he loves all of us regardless of where we are. I know Heavenly Father loves us so much and that is why he gave is His son for us. In Luke chapter 2 it talks about Heavenly hosts coming and praising God. I know we were present at that event. This week is a time to celebrate our Savior because he did what he said he would come and do! BECAUSE of HIM we can overcome anything and everything!

I love you all so much!!! MERRY EARLY CHRISTMAS!!

Love,

Sister Nye

Sister and comps up at NM mission office on Wednesday night

Sister Peterson and I

 Crazy Christmas house that blinds you as you go by

December 11, 2017

HELLOOOOOO!

Well the time has comeeeeeeee! I am leaving El Paso and heading up to Albuquerque! I will we serving in the Woodmont ward and West Mesa YSA! My new companion will be Sister Peterson and I have had a couple opportunities to meet her and she is so sweet so I am really excited. I leave Wednesday for the trip up north. I am going to flippin freeze to death because I heard it snowed up there this week and I don't know how I am going to handle that. I get cold in the 70's now.......

And I apologize now for whatever will be typed in this email... I am all over the place because of how excited I am for this week and Christmas!!!

This week was hectic and awesome! Xochi got baptized and she was soooo cute! She was so ready to be baptized and a lot of the ward came to support her so that was really nice. Buddy S and Killian T surprised me this week!! Having them both in the same room was super overwhelming so I obviously started crying which is funny because then Buddy gave me a note that said "to: the emotional one". He knows me so well. They are doing so good and I cant believe it has almost been a year since they were baptized. Buddy should be taking out his endowment soon and Killian will be after his deployment. I am just so grateful for them and that they chose to cling to the gospel. ahhh it makes me want to cry just thinking about it. 

Another cool thing we did was go Christmas caroling as a zone in downtown El paso at the Plaza. We passed out over 300 pass along cards! Christmas this year has been a lot different than last. First, it is going by way faster.(they are not kidding when they say the last 6 months of your mission flies by). Second, my testimony of Jesus Christ has evolved so much. Every time I read King Benjamins prophecy in Mosiah 3 I feel so grateful for our Savior and how much he loves us. It says:

5 For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases.

6 And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in the hearts of the children of men.

7 And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people.

8 And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary. 

This prophecy was given 124 years before Christ came. He knew what he would face when He came here, maybe not to the full extent of pain he would feel, but he loved us enough to suffer for each of us personally. 

I know my Savior lives and loves all of us. I am grateful for his sacrifice and because of him we can have joy! 

I love you all!

Sister Nye

HOW IS IT DECEMBER?!?!

Helloooooo everyone!!!! 

I cannot believe it is December... time is going way to fast. Also it is still hot and there has been no sign of a change of season down here so it feels wrong to be singing Christmas hymns but at the same time so right.... 

This week we had so many awesome meetings and really cool miracles happen. Our zone conference was On Tuesday. We gave a training(discussion) on the daily schedule and how we can use our time more effectively! I hope someone got something out of it. Everyone in the zone gave a training so it was really cool to see the greenies that came out when I got moved to this area 7 1/2 months ago giving training's and now they are like missionary pros. 

Elder Christofferson came to our mission and it was one of the coolest experiences of my lilfe. We had to show up super early and line the hall way of the building so when he came in he could shake all of our hands. As you can see from the first picture I was the first person in line and I was so excited and nervous. He walked out of the stake presidents office, stopped, looked and us and got the biggest smile on his face. An apostle shaking your hand and saying your name while looking straight into your soul is the coolest thing ever. I could literally feel the spirit radiating off of him. He spoke to us for over an hour and testified so powerfully of the savior. He emphasized that we are the only people in this part of the world that has the authority to teach repentance and baptize and without us this work would not be able to get done. In the leadership meeting that night elder Cornish talked to us about how to balance our lives and the responsibilities we have in the church. He told us to give all our heart in whatever we are doing so if your are cleaning floor you give your all and if you are relief society president you make sure you are the best relief society president you can be. When you are a wife you are the best mom and when you are a mom you are the best mom. And you enjoy every second because life moves fast and we don't have enough time to mope around. We can choose to see the blessing in our lives and make the most of everything we have been given.

Also we have a miracle baptism. A couple weeks ago we were teaching a man named Sam and his 8 year old daughter Xochi. Well Sam fell off date and it was getting hard to meet with them during all the thanksgiving craziness. Well Xochi went to Mexico with her mom for 3 weeks and when she was there she turned 9 so now she is our investigator and SHE IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!! She is so cute and excited! Her mom is a member so she knows a lot about the church already but has been less active most of her life. We are just so excited for this little chicka!! She has been so fun to teach!!!

Transfer call are this week so I will probably be moved but I'm excited to see what will happen! I hope I stay in El Paso for the rest of my mission but I'll go where the Lord wants me to go!!

I love you ALL!!!!

Love,

Sister Nye

November 27, 2017

HELLO LOVED ONES!

I hope you all had a really great Thanksgiving! We ended up with a really hot Thanksgiving here in the 80's and three meals so by the end of the day all of us were moving really slow. 

We started the week with a meeting in Albuquerque for the sister training leaders and zone leaders and guess who was there?! LITTLE VASQUEZ! She is now an STL and she has been out 9 months! I can't believe I trained her 9 months ago!!! Time is flying by. 

Our meeting was really good and a lot of it was preparation because Elder Christofferson is coming to our mission this week. There will be meetings for the missionaries, investigators, recent converts, YSA and leadership meetings. We are going to try to go to all of them. haha. We are for sure going to go the the missionary and women's leadership meeting so we just have to find some people that fit in the other categories so we can slip in. I'm really excited to meet him though and hear what he has to tell all of us. 

Thanksgiving was spent at dinners and the El Paso parade. The parade started at 10 and ended at 1 pm.... it was so long and there were so many Guadalupe floats. The members down here volunteer as the clean up committee so we spent some time cleaning the trash of the streets but the people were really grateful so they gave us free cotton candy :) Then it was off to the dinners. Nothing to special happened but we met a lot of non member family members who seemed to have some interest and gave us their phone numbers so we could come by and share a Christmas message with them! Hopefully we will see some really cool things come from that.

On Friday after district council I got to see KILLIAN! Laicey made lunch for Sister Hazen and I and all of our companions. It was so sweet to see him! He is doing awesome and just came back into town from Greenland. It was this week a year ago that we started to teach him and now he is a very active member of the church! Sometimes it is hard to be here and I feel like I'm not making any difference but seeing some of my recent converts and how they are doing today makes me so full of joy and all the trials are worth it. 

We started delivering our living Christmas cards Friday night because we got really excited and couldn't wait until today. We received over 20 referrals from members on out first Sunday when we announced it and that was only from maybe five members. So on Friday night we went by one of the referrals and it was a super nice christian family. We sang to them and read the Christmas story from Luke, closed with a prayer and left with another carol. The family referred us to another family and then that family referred us to another family and so on. We went to 5 homes that night and met over 15 people! AND NONE WERE MEMBERS! We felt the spirit so strong as we walked into those homes and testified of our savior. I am so excited for this Christmas season and to share this message with the people here in El Paso. 

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

LOVE,

Sister Nye

November 20, 2017

Hello Loved ones!!!! 

I hope everyone is getting excited for all the food on Thanksgiving! I can hardly wait for stuffing. For those who didn't know I used to eat a box of stuffing after seminary almost every day my senior year of high school. It is da best. 

This week was really great. We are finally out of the woods with the cold and flu and back to normal. We had some really powerful lessons and finally made some breakthroughs with the people we are teaching. For example we have been teaching our investigator Amanda for couple weeks and although she was keeping the commitment we would leave here we could always tell it wasn't hitting her spiritually like we would have hoped. We had a good discussion with our district about what we could do to help her feel the importance of this message on a spiritual level and not just an intellectual level. We decided that the best things we could do was talk about her identity and help her to see the changes that have already taken place in her life since she started to live the gospel. She told us she has notice a change in herself. She is more patient with her coworkers and she is trying to see the good in everyone. She also said she has been praying more and not because she promised us she would but because she is actually finding peace from it.At the end we felt prompted to share a verse from Alma 5

14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?

15 Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?

She paused and couldn't quite decide what to say. She told us the scripture really touched her heart and she wanted to ponder it for the next week and get back to us. Our outcome was met and she felt the spirit. 

I am nowhere close to where I need to be spiritually but I can see the difference from where I was a year ago to now. My testimony cannot be shaken and every day I try to take upon myself the countenance of Christ. I am so grateful for my savior and all He has done for me and my loved ones. I'm so excited to start this holiday season focused on my Savior. 

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

Sister Nye

Sister Nye, Jimmy, Sister Hay and Sister Harris

Sister Nye and Sister Harris 

MLC in Albuquerque