Jacksonville, Week 16

Hi everyone!

So...

This week literally whipped by. I have no clue where all the time is going. My Visa finally came through so I'll be leaving for Brazil after this transfer, which is kind of sad. I really do love the people here. Also my Portuguese (especially my speaking and my comprehension) needs to be wayyy better, so Sister Zanella and I will be increasing our Portuguese use a ton for the next 3 weeks. In any case, it's been really nuts, because we're visiting all of these less-active and investigators we love and since it's the Christmas season, we're suddenly getting fed a lot more, too. We're going to have a particular companionship emphasis on finding this week so that we leave this area in great shape. We'll both be going after this transfer, because S Zanella has one transfer left in Temple Square and then she goes home (where she'll only be an hour or so away from me, yay!). I wonder if they'll transfer more sisters into our place or just close us down (which wouldn't be bad because remember, this ward has two more sets of sisters. And a set of elders. And a senior couple. This WARD. The work is hastening here!) Also, I don't know about the car, which we may just leave at the mission office. There are no cars in Brazilian missions, which will be fun, but on rainy days I may miss our Malibu (affectionately nicknamed the Maliboat, because it has some really wide turns). But I am so excited for this change and I am doing my best to prepare, so pray for me with the language!

I don't have much time left, as per usual, but I can tell you all a really need experience that happened this week: Mark had been telling us about how he was sure he had some ancestors who were among the first Mormon pioneers in Utah (which was basically all he had initially heard about the Church), so we invited him to the Wednesday night Family History class to find out more. Hannah came as well to help us and she was a really invaluable resource, because she's been diligently doing her FH since she got baptized. We set up Mark with afamilysearch.org profile and started pulling up records of his parents and grandparents so we could put them in too.  Mark was awesome, pulling names and places out of his memory so we could find and match them. But then, of course, we got stuck trying to find one great-grandmother who he couldn't remember the maiden name for, but Sister Zanella, with far more diligence and patience than I possess, discovered that this grandmother had been Pearl Houtz before she married James Coomes and then we struck on a family line stretching back, in some places, to the 1400s. Even better, we found the pioneers! And amazing conversion stories that people had written down and posted on the site. One of his 4th-great grandfathers joined the Church, moved to Nauvoo with his family, where he had the Prophet Joseph Smith often in his home, built a wagon to cross the plains, and ended up giving that to Brigham Young when his broke down. Another faithful grandmother recorded two of her children being healed of serious injuries through the power of the priesthood, which eventually let to the conversion of her husband. The spirit there was really powerful and we could all feel that those people were there with us, helping us to learn more. Mark, even more than any of the rest of us, was so excited to learn all this about his roots. And he knows that his ancestors are there helping him with his conversion, just like they made this journey in the past. We're going to share some of his ancestors' stories at his baptism this week. So that was an incredible miracle as well. Anyway, I'm clean out of time but I love you all! See you figuratively next week!

Sister Nielsen

Pictures: Lesson and pizza at Mark's last Tuesday. From left to right it's Johnny, Mark, Haylee, me, S Zanella

Our fantabulous picture for S Zanella's Christmas cards home

Week 15, Jacksonville

Hi everyone,

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season thus far! Did you watch the Christmas devotional last night? I loved it; I was looking forward to it all week.

Wow, the holidays are busier even for missionaries. I'm trying to think back on everything that happened last week and it's been something of a blur because we did so much. But we also had a little more down time than usual because Sister Zanella got really sick. She refused to stop working and I didn't argue so much after the first day, because I knew I'd do exactly the same thing in her position, but Elder and Sister Andrews (senoir couple in our ward and in our apt complex who are in charge of mission medical) finally put their feet down and demanded that she come back early a couple of nights to sleep.

We went with Hannah, a fantastic 18-year-old convert of three years, to come with us to teach Mark on Tuesday and we saw that he had no food. He got a job but he wouldn't be paid til next Monday, so he would be finishing all these houses for the next week with nothing but coffee to eat. He's so cheerful and would NEVER complain, but we saw that the work and no food was really running him down. As missionaries, we couldn't do anything, but Hannah saw the pain in our faces and got together with Haylee (another fabulous 18-year-old convert) to gather and buy about 2 weeks worth of groceries for Mark. He got a little misty-eyed as we bustled around filling his cupboards at the "angels" who'd come into his house, but it really wasn't us, it was Hannah and Haylee. I love them both so much. Haylee started her mission papers yesterday and I couldn't be more pleased. In return for that, Sister Zanella took his jar of coffee, the last thing he needs to quit, and carried it home to take a picture and triumphantly throw it away. It means so much to her because she's seen how far he's come. He made it to Solomon (the ZL's gator)'s baptism yesterday and received a priesthood blessing afterwards to help with his health and I think both were great experiences. He also made it to the devotional last night, as did Haylee, Johny (recent convert as of August) and his friend Larry, so it was a fabulous experience also.

We also taught Timmy this week, who is our second progressing investigator. He lives with Brother Snider, a recently reactivated menber who is building the largest motorcyle on the planet. No joke, he installed a truck engine in it. Brother Snider advised us to teach the lesson pretty simply because Timmy, although he is in his forties, has difficulty understanding a lot. But Timmy asked fabulous questions and totally blew us away with how much he learned, both from what we had taught and what he heard in gospel principles last Sunday. We meet with both of them every Tuesday, which is always a weekly highlight. We'll be teaching the Plan of Salvation next and I'm quite excited.

Something neat happened the other day: as we were going to visit Mike (another investigator who just can't seem to read the BoM), we ran into Treneice (a recent investigator, Mike's neighbor who he referred). She is the most gorgeous lady ever but lives in a really tough situation, so we've just met with her a couple times so far to establish a teaching relationship and let her know her worth. Sister Zanella really wanted her to have a Book of Mormon but we didn't have one last time, so she pulled it out now and gave it to Treneice, telling her just a little bit about how it would bless her life. She was running out the door, but she said "I'm definitely going to read this book!" So two nights ago, as we were finishing up with Mike on his porch, she pulled up and we gave her some birthday cupcakes and started talking. Then out of nowhere, she said "I started to read that book y'alls gave me and I was so confused!" [Sister Nielsen's inner thought: oh no oh no red alert does she hate us now?] "So as I was reading, I didn't recognize any of these names! There was only one I knew." [Inner thought: Probably "Jerusalem", though maybe "Sam"?] "It was 'Messiah'. So anytime I saw Messiah, I read that verse because I knew it was important. Will you please come sometime and tell me more about this book?" [Inner thought: *flatlining*] So that experience was pretty incredible. But even more than that, I loved Treneice's approach to reading, which reflects the approach we should all have to life. Anytime something came up that she didn't understand (which happens constantly to all of us), she did NOT give up but instead looked to the Savior for understanding and knowlege and found it, too! I hope that I can learn from her example, both in scripture study and just in everything I do, because Christ really is the answer and the light. Anyway, that was pretty amazing.

Haven't got much else for you this week, not because we aren't busy but because my brain is all thinked out now. Love you all!

Sister Nielsen

Pictures: Mark's "stolen" coffee (he really didn't mind)

We set up a Christmas tree for the Zielinskis. They're this adorably musical couple who love missionaries and spoil us far too much

Brother Snider's bike, as seen from the doorway

Week (what now? 14?), Jacksonville

Hi everyone! How was Thanksgiving? Still sleeping off that turkey?

I arrived in Hendricks Avenue on Wednesday and discovered that we had five (5!) Thanksgiving dinners scheduled for the next day. So my first full day in this new area was spent driving all over (we sort of went in a star formation between our five areas), meeting tons of ward members, and eating enough food to make a Hungry Hippo weep. Yes, I used my missionary skills and ate a plate in every house. Sister Zanella enjoyed her first Thanksgiving ever, though she's looking forward to a break from them next November. I'm actually the designated driver, since Sister Zanella's licence expired after a year in the US, so I'm still totally lost whenever we drive anywhere. We have a beautiful silver Chevy Malibu that is just begging for me to do something stupid to it, so please please pray that I don't crash. 

So the ward here is just a regular ward, but it has four sets of missionaries! They just got their third set of sisters this transfer. And the San Jose Ward in the same area has three sets of Spanish-speaking elders. Missionaries are thick on the ground wherever you go here. No one really knows why there are so many of us here, but every decision President Craig has made in his short time here has been unbelievably inspired, so I can't wait to see what comes of this. 

We have a lot of investigators here that Sister Spencer and Sister Zanella have been working with and one in particular, Mark, is progressing amazingly towards his baptism date of Dec 21st. I haven't been fortunate enough to see this myself, but everyone in his apartment complex (we're teaching half of them now) keeps telling us how much he's changed. He really really wanted a suit to wear to church, so he went to a local charity in order to get a free one. However, in order to really prove that they couldn't afford it any other way, everyone there had to eat a meal and spend the night to get the clothes. Since most of the people were homeless, they were all surprised when Mark said "Nah, I've got a place and food and all; I just want the suit!" But it turns out that the charity's bedding had all gotten bedbugs and had to be burned, so Mark slept with two sheets on a concrete floor with 80 other people. The guy next to him was shouting at nothing all night and Mark almost took off right then, but he wanted that suit so badly that he stuck it out, all so he could look his best at church! He's changed his life so much and he's so excited to get baptized. It's just incredible for me to see someone with so much real intent. We meet so many people who use lack of a suit as an excuse not to come to church (not that it even matters what you wear) and I love to see someone really taking things into their own hands instead of waiting for missionaries or members to do it for them. Mark has already kicked cigarettes and alcohol for good in the past few weeks and he's giving up coffee today. It's just amazing to see how happy he is.

Partly because of Brazilian culture and partly because she's Sister Zanella, my companion will very bluntly tell people what is on her mind. For instance, she will always remind people of commitments they're not keeping in a teasing and loving way, but also make it very clear that she doesn't for a second think it's all right that they won't come to church or quit smoking. It's really great because she gets so much farther with investigators than I would have ever thought possible and they always remember exactly why she's there. But no matter who it is, she always connects with them and everyone loves her much, whether or not they accept her invitations to follow Christ. I'm learning so much about being bold in the Spirit of the Lord, though I still fear that I will end up offending someone. But I've already said things to people that I never would have imagined I would be courageous enough to say. Sister Zanella is really good at telling when people won't progress or when they have incredible potential but will just take a lot of time and work, so she is very patient but persistent. I have so much to learn from her but I'm really excited for this chance to work hard and grow.

In personal study today, I studied an awful lot about humility and pride. I've decided that pride is the root of pretty much every and any sin, because it starts with you deciding that your ways are higher than God's ways. So I really don't want to have it, but I seem to have it all the time anyway. In Alma 32:15-16, I noticed that he was discussing the gospel of Jesus Christ (you know, faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost, endure to the end) but instead of saying faith, he actually said humility. I wondered for a second why he would switch those two out, until I realized that this entire cycle of repentance can't start unless you are humble. Why would you ever have faith that Jesus Christ's Atonement could take away sin if you're prideful enough to think you're better than that? Faith and humility go hand-in-hand: only the humble can be faithful, and only those who have faith can receive the blessings of the Lord. So it's all about that humility. Whether I can apply this adequately is another story, but self-perfection is a gradual process. We'll see how I can change. Anyway, love y'all and take care this holiday season!

Love,

Sister Anna Nielsen

My new address:

6650 Corporate Center Parkway Apt 1410 Mailbox 69 

Jacksonville FL 32216