Yippee! A Baptism!!

Monday: Monday we had a GOOOOD P-day! Sister West took us out the whole P-day!

We went to lunch to this Japanese Restaurant...and guess what I ate!?! Octopus. It was very chewy and just weird. Probably something I won't ever eat in my life again. But hey, A for effort!?

Then we got our NAILS done. Everyone, this is a BIG deal. Just kidding. But hey it is nice to have Gel nails again for a bit, also I was able to talk to this older man, who was getting a manicure right next to me about the Gospel, so it was a win-win for both of us! Haha!

We got way good ice cream that was so much needed in the heat! (Is it Fall yet in Utah?) We visited this older lady named Clara in a retirement home, oh my heart was melted! She was the sweetest thing. Something that made me laugh Clara said..."They sure do make missionaries cute nowadays." She was just so cute and so nice. (She reminded me a lot of my sweet Grandma! Shout out to you Grandma! I love you!) Monday was just a fun good day!! :)

Tuesday: Tuesday, we had our last District meeting with our District Leader, Elder Christensen (second row, at the back) who is getting transferred! And so is Sister Kirton (second row in the front in royal blue) who is serving in Navarre. We had a good last District meeting and had a little pizza party to say goodbye and all. I will miss them, but hey! Elder Christensen is now in Thomasville, Georgia and Sister Kirton is now in Dothan, Alabama, and our new District leader is Elder Hatori, he is from California and is half Japanese and Hawaiian! (Asian unity!) His photo is below with the Saturday pictures. He is cool! Tuesday we taught a lesson about church and prayer and scriptures to Joyce, and invited her to come to church. She has had some hard patches in her life, but is so kind and knows Heavenly Father has watched out for her. She is amazing! Tuesday night we had dinner with the Alvarez family. Vanessa Alvarez who is my age should be getting her mission call THIS week! We are SOOOOO EXCITED for her! She is going to be the BEST missionary out there.

So here we are in our clean, clean kitchen, grinning at the end of a super successful day! Do we look happy? Mission work is awesome! What a great day! Wednesday: I always thought Wednesday was spelled like "Wensday" till coming out on the mission...hahah...random funny moment I had. Today was a good day! We did a lot of contacting and met a lady named Susan, who let us in her house and gave us some water and we talked to her for a bit. She isn't a member but we could tell she really needed someone to talk to, so it was sweet. Her mother paints and is an amazing artist! Susan's house is full of art work. She showed us all the art work, and I just loved it SO much! I really believe if you go into someone's home and look at pictures on the wall and ask about who are in them or whatever is on their walls is a GREAT way to learn about who they are. Haha - it is kind of funny because sometimes I will just stand up and look at pictures because I love learning about THEM. It was a nice visit!

Wednesday night we had a GREAT lesson with the Myers, we showed them the video "LIFT" and after watching it, Isaac starting crying. It was so sweet because he told us he has a testimony about service and wanted to share his testimony at his baptism. We are SO excited for him. Then he showed me how to play with lasers. Should I audition for the next Star Wars series? I don't think so, either. But that was a fun activity at the Myers' house.

Thursday: Thursday morning we got up and went right to help with food orders...and as you can see I tried on a helmet. Always wondered what I would look like in a helmet. Pretty silly with a dress, right? Okay, that was random.

But - good news! Guess who is in our zone now...SISTER STRADINGER!!! In case you forgot who she is, here is here picture from the Half Mission Conference two weeks ago: She got transferred to Fox Run, so now I will see her a little more than before! If there is someone I hope to be like when I grow up, it might be Sister Stradinger. Love that girl. We did our normal weekly planning, but while we were talking to Sister Woolstenhulme on the phone, Sister Kinghorn picked up this shell I found at the sound a few weeks ago and started screaming because there was a DEAD CRAB in it....oh my gosh. It smelled SO BAD! Anyways back up story about this shell....just a few weeks ago we went to the sound with one our of members on Sunday and I found this beautiful shell, pretty far away from the water, and so I asked Sister Hall if I could take it and she told me that there might be a hermit crab in it, so we put it down and waited to see if it would come out...well it never did and we tried to poke a stick in it to see if anything would happen. Well nothing did, so I thought it was safe enough to take home...well I was sure wrong because there was a crab in it and little did we know....till 2 weeks of having the shell in our apartment. So yes. Sister Kinghorn and I are somewhat crab killers but, lesson learned. ;) Do crabs stink when they die!? Answer: YES. Thursday night was fun because we were able to make the programs for Isaac's baptism with Sister West and get a few things ready for Sunday! Friday: Friday!!! Friday we went to see Kathy,and talked about Christlike LOVE. The Language of love. It has been one of my favorite lessons to teach, because love can be taken in SO many ways, but the perfect love is Christlike love. I always say this but every lesson we teach to Kathy is something that I, Sister Nielson always need. I always laugh because really I am just teaching myself what I need. Haha, it is great. "Charity is love in action." -President Thomas S Monson. Sure do love that quote. We went to Helping Hands and did our normal service there and guess what!? They donated us a NEW couch for our apartment...our old couch smelled like Elders with BO. Mmmhmmm so nasty. So we are SO thankful to them, plus it is white and we got super cute pillows for it! Yep, we are so stoked about our new couch! A blessing from Service! Peggy and Tammy were SO giddy about giving it to us, it was so cute. Friday night we had a fun dinner with the Hogans, we went to the church to meet the Myers for Isaac's baptism interview which went super good! Overall a good day! :)

Saturday: Saturday morning we had cooralation with our ward mission leader, and we got to go to his dock with the Elders. How cool is this photo? Elder Thompson and Elder Hitori are in the background. Isn't the Gulf of Mexico something special? (Note: we are NOT on the beach!) Then went and picked up the couch with Trena - YAY! That was fun!

And here is a picture of our District Leader, Elder Hitori! He is in the background. He is part Japanese, so now I am not the only Asian in my District! This is the Meyer's garage. And while were were there...

I got to CUT some hair! Probably one of my FAV things to do as service here on the mission! I was able to cut Brother Myers and Isaac's hair for the baptism on Sunday! (Gotta look good right?) It was super fun! Brother Myers brother, and his wife came out for the baptism so we were able to meet them and visit...so I cut their hair outside...in the humidity and heat...mmhmmm, let me tell you. it was HOT. All I wanted was it to rain...and guess what happened!? Oh Rain. Haha. So funny. Even though I was sweaty and sticky, I loved it all!

Sunday: BEST DAY on the mission! Sunday Isaac was BAPTIZED! It was such a sweet baptism. Brother Myers was able to baptize him, and his uncle was able to confirm him, oh it was just wonderful! Earlier that day we were talking to Brother Myers and he was telling us how he has found his testimony, after Isaac was baptized he told us that he had this anger and hurt, but now it is all gone. Oh wow, I just LOVE that so much!! How awesome. His mom, who isn't a member, sang "How great thou Art" which was so beautiful. I am just so happy for them. It has been amazing to see this family come closer to Christ together. That is what missionary work is all about. I am grateful. I love my Savior, I love who He is and His sacrifice for us, so that one day we will all be able to be with Him again. I am grateful for everyone I meet and everyone that we get to talk about Christ to. It is the best thing in the world. I know that He Lives. He is real. He was the perfect example to all. I love y'all! Sis Nielson!