Hot days in Florida :)

Something Good: Well y'all, this week has been stellar!! First good thing..I mowed my very first lawn! Yep. Very first. If y'all know me, you know why it would be my first.  (Plus I have a Dad and brothers who always took care of the lawns at home.) Ha! But now I can mow! Notice that there is sand beneath the plants. We really are on the beach!

(Note: This photo was sent by the home owner, who said,  "My name is Deborah Pillivant. My husband passed away in December, so the Sisters and Elders have been a big help. This was so funny! She was so excited to cut it because she had not done it before.")

This week we have been able to do a lot of service for people in our ward, I love service! It is super awesome, even in the Florida heat..!  See how happy we look? Service brings happiness!

Left to right: Doing service with the Elders!  Elder Galloway, Sister Nielson, Sister Anderson and  silly-faced Elder Lambson!

This week, Garvin our gator was in the hospital, we were able to go and visit him with his parents. Spiritually he is doing awesome! He is just loving the Gospel and he loves reading talks and learning more about the church. He is such an example to me. :) 

Another good thing this week! We were able to meet this girl named Megan. We have had a hard time meeting with her, but we where able to finally meet her...we knocked on her door and she was so happy it was the missionaries! We had a great little lesson with her, it was a blessing to be able to meet her this week!  This darling child is her daughter, Zoey, who loves us so much! She is adorable!!


Chris! Okay, so our other Chris, we ended up dropping him because he wasn't willing to change. But our new Chris that we are teaching is doing great! We were able to see him this week. He is so sincere and willing to learn about the Gospel. I am so thankful for the people here on the beach that are willing to learn the Gospel! :) 

A Tender Mercy: We hit every green light. Back up! We had a lesson at 5 and dinner at 6, at the opposite sides of each other. We really thought we where going to be late to our dinner appointment, but we hit EVERY green light...y'all that never happens here..!! We got to our dinner right at 6. It was so awesome..time just froze and let us be! :) It is something so small and a little funny, but it is a another little tender mercy that the Lord showed us. <3

So tracting. Missionaries tract. And sometimes we find someone to teach, and lots of time we don't. But at this house I found something that warmed my heart - Lucy, this sweet little puppy! This also gives a glimpse of what Florida houses look like on the beach. It's hard to grow anything because of the sand and the heat. But a front porch is something people can enjoy. Shade is welcome.

Something Learned: Sometimes we need to just "move the chair." President Smith taught us a while ago about moving the chair. I have been thinking about this little analogy this week, seeing a few people having a hard time pressing forward. Sometimes when we are trying to go forward in the Gospel things happen and can block our progression, it can be hard to move forward, but if we are willing to "move the chair" or move our problems to the side and rely on God to help us, we can keep going forward. This life is such a great time to learn and to grow to become what our Heavenly Father wants us to become. I am grateful for progression, not perfection. God doesn't ask us to be perfect, but he does ask us to keep going and keep becoming better. Maybe eventually we will be perfect. But for now we know our "tries" really do count!

My testimony continues to get stronger on my mission!  I have seen the Lord's hand in people's lives, and am so thankful to have this opportunity to serve Him here in PCB.

Y'all, I know that Christ and Heavenly Father Live! They love us, they watch over us, and they are always cheering us on.

Y'all have a good peachy day!

Sister Nielson