Murry Christmas!

Ladies and Gentlemen!

 

Christmas was the best! We had members take us in and take such good care of us! I can't believe how much kindness was shown to the missionaries! We were so blessed!

 

So on to my favorite part of Christmas...it had to be the phone call home. Who has the greatest family of all? This sister missionary does. I love you family and I care about you a lot! Thank you for talking to me :) haha mom and dad you are the best and you are honestly my best friends... I was thinking about that after I hung up the phone and something I remembered was from a really important and cool blessing that I got my senior year, which told me that my parents would be my best friends. It is true. Couldn't ask for better parents :)

 

This week I read over the conference talks from this past conference and the Sunday morning session is my favorite. It is so focused on the Atonment and how we can be made strong through it if we accept it in our lives. Then I read another talk about believing that Christ is our Savior. That He can and will make up the rest. I loved reading that because sometimes I stress about not being a good enough missionary.... ya it's real! haha but if I am really doing the best that I can, then Christ will make up the rest. A little while ago I told my mom that I couldn't make it to the Celestial Kingdom, I was just joking with her but it has been a real concern because I AM NOT PERFECT. But this talk helped me understand that I can't be "celestial material" unless I accept the Atonement into my life. We were given the gift to change and want to change and then after all we can do, we will be made perfect :)

 

I love you all. Especially you family:) You take care and I hope that you have a Happy New Year :)

 

Love, Alisha

#tistheseason

Hello:)

Everybody! I just want to pour out my heart and tell you how much I love my Heavenly Father. Missions are hard but I have this wonderful oppurtunity to grow every single day and boy at the being of the week did I grow! haha so to tell you a little bit more about my growth I will have to tell you about my downfall! I worry too much and this made my wonderful gift of anxiety come back...ya I don't have time for that as a missionary because I honestly felt trapped. It was really hard and I worried my companion a little because I cried a lot. But thanks to a lot of praying and a priesthood blessing I am doing so much better. I know that my Heavenly Father cares about me even when I am an anxious mess! So I just pray and pray and pray. I am very grateful for prayer :)

My week was great and we taught a lot of lessons. Another thing that I have learned is that I love people. (not everyone because you can't expect me to be perfect) haha some people just tug at my heart and I want to be their best friends for life #BBFL haha but really. We had a lesson with the R family yesterday (her brother died just a couple of weeks ago) and we just chatted with her and shared a spiritual thought. I really just felt so much love for her and her husband. They are genuine people and I hope that we can help them progress in the gospel.

Life is a marathon, not a sprint. In saying that, we must spiritually prepare ourselves for the road ahead. So strengthen those testimonies :) I love you all :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS :)

Love, Alisha

Merry Christmas from Sister Nielsen and Sister Neff!

Hello Everybody:)

 

We got transfer call last night and honestly I thought that we were all staying together, but they told us that Sister Petersen is leaving...as soon as we hung up the phone we all cried! That was rough. especially a week before Christmas! Boy, I love that Sister with all of my heart and I know that we were companions for a reason :) haha we are not the most lady-like sister missinoaries you will ever find but with her I gained a better understanding of putting your personality in missionary work :)

 

This week was wonderful :) I really learned the importance of effective studies and I have learned so much! I know that this gospel is true and when I learn more and more about it I just want to share it with people and just shake them!! This is what you need people! haha but I control myself! This week I studied about the Atonement and how we are "unconditionally" saved from physical death so we will all be resurrected, but we are "conditionally" saved from spiritual death. Those conditions are if we choose to have faith and accept Christ into our lives and to repent!

 

We get to do more service for the salvation army this week and I love it :) We get to put together presents for kids and it is just the best feeling ever :) I probably want to be Santa when I grow up :) haha

 

I love you all and I hope that you have a great week :) Really, you all are the best :) It's such a blessing that I have you all in my life :)

 

Love, Alisha

SNOW!

Alright folks! We got a lot of snow! Due to the weather we were grounded a lot this week and that makes doing the work hard. Also, on top of that we were in the car the other day and the Elders were driving and they were going too fast and took a turn which spun us and we ran into a curb pretty hard. That was no fun but we are lucky that no one got really hurt and that there wasn't anyone really close by. But due to hitting the curb it messed up our tire pretty bad and now we don't have a car to drive. So walking will be the way of transportation until it gets fixed! Hopefully it warms up soon!

 

One day while we were grounded we looked in our area book and decided to call formers! We got 3 appointments set up! WOOO! One of the appointments was yesterday and it was with a Nigerian family and there were about 10 people living in one house! Crazy! They had 3 little girls and they were amazed with my hair! haha I was sitting on the ground and they would slowly walk up to me and touch it and run away! haha I guess they havent seen blonde hair a whole lot! haha it made me laugh and they were cute! Hopefully we will get back to teach them, they said they were super busy due to school! No one is too busy for the gospel bros! haha

 

I am almost finished with Numbers in the Old Testament and oh goodness, it is hard to understand. it is like really a rule book. haha I am almost through the real tough part but I am learning so much. My whole mission has taught me a lot and I am grateful for that!

 

Stay warm peeps:)

 

Love, Alisha

Thanksgiving!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Ours was a little crazy but the spirit of it was great! haha We started the day off with our studies and then we went to the church to prepare our Thanksgiving lunch. We were there three hours early because our ward mission leader wanted evrything to be done. So with 11 missionaries it took us about 20 minutes to set everything up and for the rest of the time we just talked and had a good time.

 

Anywho, the lunch went great and we had P (our investigator) come and she loved it! she has been progressing a lot and hopefully her court case wont affect her decision to be baptised. She is wonderful.

 

After, all the missionaries played volleyball and basketball and that was so much fun! oh goodness thank you for holidays! The other missionaries in our district are pretty cool and we always have a lot of fun!

 

All of November I made an effort with my personal prayers and I said them out loud every night in my bathroom. I just know that Heavenly Father is there listening (because I mean I wouldn't be praying to my bathtub in there haha) But I know that He really cares about what we are doing and what is going on. I mean I have a lot of things going on and I am a mess most of the time, but I know that He cares about what I have to say. I love my Heavenly Father because sometimes He is the only person I can talk to. I love this gospel-the end. haha

 

I would like to give a shout out to my brother Austin who is turning 15 today! I love you little fella:)

 

Sorry that this letter is a mess. I am a mess. haha everything is going to be fine.

 

I love you all and I hope that you have a great week:)

 

Love, Alisha

I sneezed and it snowed... so they canceled church.

Family!

 

Yesterday was weird. There was probably a total of 10 flakes of snow on the ground and they canceled church because they said that the people here don't know how to drive. Bless them. But all of the churches in oklahoma city were canceled due to the weather. haha just grand! And our cars were also grounded so we spent the day inside!! We had our studies and then we cleaned up a little bit and I read Jesus the Christ (I LOVE THAT BOOK) and we just chilled. I mean what do ya do? So we also walked around a little bit before our noses froze off:)

 

Oh goodness! Let me just tell you the stupid thing I did this last Friday. We had a general authority come and speak to us. The conference was wonderful but on one of our short breaks I was standing in line at the bathroom (huge girls bathroom line to paint a picture for ya) and I wasnt really thinking about anything and I started to sing a song. "Come together, right now." I caught myself because Areosmith is not an appropriate artist for a missionary to be singing but then I realize the wife of the general authority is standing in line right next to me....oh gosh, Sister Petersen started singing with me and then we both just froze. haha She probably thinks we are rebellious sister missionaries rockin out in our free time, but that is not the case!! haha Quiet diginty is what we strive for, but me and sister petersen are coming up a little short:)

 

This week we had some pretty cool experiences knocking doors! I love when people are not very nice because they just strengthen my testimony so much! We were knocking a rich area and children answer this door and they see us and just back away like they are scared of us and then the dad comes to the door and we ask to pray with him. He then goes off about how he is a professor and has studied our religion more than any other religion and that he is the last man we want to have that conversation with. He tells us that he has studied our religion more than we have studied it. I wanted to say "did ya pray about it?" haha but there wouldn't be a good outcome to that one! haha But I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that this Gospel is true even if I don't know every little thing about it! I know the way it makes me feel and that is enough. Thank you random professor for helping me realize that. :)

 

Well homies! I love you all and may your Thankgiving fill you spiritually and physically:)

 

Peace out

 

Love, Alisha

Trios for days!

People!

I am in a trio and I have loved it so far! Our first day probably set the tone for the rest of the transfer! baaa Let me just tell you all what went down! So we were out tracting in the area of our next appointment and it was great and the miracles we saw were wonderful! Everyone that we talked to had some encounter with the missionaries or Mormon friends! It was way cool and we met some great people! The last house we knocked before our appointment invited us in and gave us some water! This lady is just great and she even offered to feed us this Wednesday!! Who just does that? haha so we were going to be late for our appointment so we had to go! as we were walking down the road Sister Neff said that she left her scriptures. So we run back and at this time we are 5 minutes late! We sprint (like sister missionaries) and we were huffing and puffing because honestly I have a grandma body right now. (love you Grandma) haha but we kind of yelled a bit as we were running so that was a little hilarious. We are the opposite of what you think sister missionaries act like! haha too good! We have enjoyed the last few days!

The lesson that we had was great and we taught a part member family. The dad who is not a memeber does not want to take the lessons but he lets us do an FHE with the family and this week we sang "Do as I'm Doing" haha we let the little kids choose the action and we were right there doing it with them! haha we were hopping on one foot and "going crazy" haha great first lesson for Sister Neff! haha After we walked home...well we tried. There are little to no sidewalks here so we walked through ditches and people probably think we are crazy! It is wonderful! Sister Neff thinks that we tried to kill her that first day because we walked for a good 45 minutes! haha then we had to call a member because we were going to be late for curfew! haha thank goodness for lovely members. :)

This area will take off soon! haha hopefully! we are trying really hard to get our members motivated! It will happen and then we will be so busy we won't know what to do with ourselves! haha I can't wait.

I love you all and I hope that you have a great week:)

LOVE.....Alisha:)

The trio! Sister Neff, Sister Peterson, and Sister Nielsen

T-R-A-N-S-F-E-R-S

We got transfer calls last night and Sister Holbrook is going to Texas!! Lucky girl! haha I love it down there! But I am so excited because I get to be in a trio with Sister Petersen!! One of my MTC companions and boy do I love her to death! I am so excited to serve with her! So it will be the both of us and a new companion from the MTC! I am very excited for this upcoming transfer!

This week we were able to meet with the Bakers and it was a great lesson. We taught about the Restoration and then talked about baptism and Brother Baker agreed to be baptized when he got his answer! Oh he is just a great man and we think that he has been looking for this for a long time! We will be going back to teach him again later this week with my new companions and I am very excited about that!

The other day we were driving down the road and the Elders were in the back seat, they were going on exchanges so we had a new elder with us. His name is Elder Carter and he came out the transfer after me. But anywho, we were driving down the road and I put some white tic tacs in my mouth. My new favorite thing to do is make these tiny tic tacs look like my teeth and it is just great! Some times I get it real good and it looks like I have these razor teeth and it is the best. Well I showed the Elders and they thought I was crazy...haha never doing that again... I will continue to make baby razor teeth by my self! haha you all should try it. it is the best.

I read probably the best talk written known to man. It is called "His Grace is Sufficent" by Brad Wilcox. Oh goodness it blew my mind and I just love some of the things that he says in there. He talks about the Atonement and how Jesus already paid the price for our sins. But through grace we can change and become more like our Father in Heaven and Jesus Chirst. One part that I loved is when he Quotes "no unclean thing can dwell within the presence of God" and then he states "but no unchanged thing will even want to." He compares the Atonement to piano lessons and how mom pays for piano lessons and the child practices to show thanks, but their practicing does not pay the debt that the piano lessons cost. This is like the Atonement because we can't pay back the debt but we can be grateful and have faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement. This talk is wonderful! you all should read it:) sorry I am not super good at telling you how much I love it! haha but just take my word for it:)

I love you all and I hope you have a splendid week:)

Love, Sister Nielsen

Sister Nielsen and Sister Holbrook at the Oklahoma City Temple

November in Oklahoma

Everybody!

 

This week started off a little rough for me but I am doing better! thank goodness! We went on exchanges with the Hermanas and we had a lesson all in spanish! Ya and guess what?! those three years of spanish helped a sister out! I understood the whole lesson (not every word) but I knew what the point of the lesson was on and I even read in spanish. Holla holla haha it was very cool and I know that the spirit was helping me because there is no other way I would have kept up! I didn't speak at all but I could understand! In this lesson the father was reading and oh my goodness he is hispanic with these brilliant blue eyes. I remebered that eyes in spanish are ojos and blue is azul but ya that would look real good for me to just blurt out "azul ojos!!" so good thing I held my tongue haha real classy Sister Nielsen.

 

We went on a church exchange this week! so great! we went to the seventh day adventist church and the worship the Sabbath on Saturday. We went with the Bakers and it was just so great! Their service is not too crazy compared to some other churches around here! haha but after the service Bro. Baker was so grateful that we came! He kept telling us and then he would ask us questions about the differneces between our two services. There isn't much but he was just so happy that we were willing to come. And then he came to church with us yesterday and he loved it! yess! And then he told his friend (bro.vanduzer, member of the bishopric) that he would be back. He has been looking for this for a long time and it is just so great to see:) I am so grateful that I can see someone else's enthusiasum for the Gospel:) and I am grateful that my grumbly beast of a stomach didn't distract him from feeling the spirit (thank you fast sunday!) haha

 

Well everyone! I love you and I hope that you have a great week:)

 

Love, Sister Nielsen

 

P.S.- I am having a baby.....I am training next transfer!

"We Built the Lord a Fence"

Hello Everyone:)

 

Thank you all for the birthday wishes:) I have the best family in the world:)

 

So this week had its highs and lows! But good thing we learn best from the lows:) We had the opportunity to rebuild a fence for a couple who is really struggling. And I want to stress the word REALLY. But here in Oklahoma you have to keep your yard up to certain standard or you get fined. So we helped them rebuild their fence and chop the tree down that was growing through it! It was crazy haha because honestly if you can imagine the secret garden in your mind, magnify it about 10 times and that was their backyard! haha it was a great adventure. The hardest part was that the man was not very grateful and he was very rude to the elders so the enviornment was not very wonderful! It was ok because as we were driving away Brother Connor (a member) just said: "Well, we just built the Lord a fence, Elders and Sisters." That just made me feel a lot better! When we serve others, we are serving the Lord :)

 

Want to hear a funny joke? I was wearing one of my favorite skirts the other day and I was about to go to the bathroom (this is appropriate so don't worry). I don't like for my skirt to sit on the floor to I usually raise it. Well, I was stupid and took it by the bottom in the back (it was a pencil skirt so it had a little slit) and I pulled up and basically ripped my skirt in half...good thing that we were in our apartment! haha bless my heart. I took it to a member to be fixed because the seam was just split. Thank goodness for laughter:)

 

Yesterday morning we went to go visit Patty. We helped her with a stuck cabinet door and then she told us that she would not be coming to church. That was hard because she was the only person that was going to be there this week for us and so that really just made us feel not so great. We were walking out and I just felt crappy (the nicest way I can put it), but then bishop called and asked me to step in to speak in sacrament. Thank you bishop. I cried haha But I was grateful for speaking because I learned a lot and now I know that I can prepare a talk in a hour. It might not be pretty but I can do it! haha Also it strengthened my testimony on how we need to be converted. Are we converted to the Lord? In Jacob, it talks about a man named Sherem that denies Christ and he comes to Jacob to "shake him in his faith" but Jacob just states "I could not be shaken." How cool is that? And how many of us could honestly say that we can not be shaken? Cool thought! I am getting there. :)

 

I love you all:) Have a good week!

 

Love Sister Nielsen

"I want my life to be as clean as Earff right after rain"

Hello!!

 

This week was great and crazy! haha lets start off with the fact that it rained like crazy and we didn't have the car so we were walking around in the rain for dayzz. haha When we started off it wasn't raining bad at all and so it was kind of nice not to be sweaty and nasty! So we went and checked on Patty and she is working on something for court so we didn't stay long but we did pick up her recycling just to help her out and lighten her stress load. Well when we were leaving we thought we knew where we could take these bags but then we were wrong and we ended up walking around looking for a place in the pouring rain! haha we looked real good if you ask me! #bagladiesforlife. Well we thought goodwill would know where we could donate the bottles but we were wrong. I went inside to ask while Sister Holbrook waited outside with the bags, she said that she got a lot of weird looks and one lady offered her a ride! haha mission life is the best. We eventually called a member and they offered to take it for us! We were soaked. We later went to a baptism and we were still dripping wet. An 8 year boy was getting baptized and we had Loki (a little boy we are teaching) come and see how a baptism works! It was really great! After the baptism there was a musical number by two little 6 year olds and it was a boy and a girl! Just the cutest thing ever but they were singing "When I am Baptized" and they repeated "I want my life to be as clean as Earff right after rain" about 5 times in a row and their families were trying to help them out with the next line and it was just so funny! aahhh how cute and it applied for how that day went because boy did it rain a lot!

 

We are also teaching another little boy named Skylar. He is nine and we were going over the Doctrine of Christ with him. It was a great lesson and he was being great but his younger brother was going crazy and at one point we were talking about the sacrament and he was wrapped in blanket hiding from us and as soon as we said "Sacrament" he growled the word "Sacrifice" oh boy I was trying so hard not to laugh but it was just too funny! CHILDREN! (that story is for you Erika) He also calls the Book of Mormon, The Book of Norman. haha close bud!

 

One thing that really stuck out to me this week was when we were driving in the car back from the baptism. So we were freezing and all I wanted to do was go home. I thought about what I would do if I were in this situation back home and how I would go home, shower, put sweats on, and watch a movie with some hot chocolate. So I was kind of homesick for a second but then a thought came to me that I was looking for comfort in TV and Facebook and all that kind of stuff and then it hit me. We can't take that stuff to Heaven. Well duh right? But honestly whenever I was upset or sad or just needed a break I would go to that kind of stuff almost to waste my time and make me not have to think for myself. Well that is not going to fly in Heaven! That stuff won't be there. We will have people we love there and that will be the best and enough. So bottom line I am thankful that I am on a mission and I have realized what I need to seek out. Jacob 2:18 "but before ye seek for riches (things of the world), seek ye for the kingdom of God"

 

So that is my challange for you for the week! What can ye seek out that you can take to Heaven? Find it. Those things are the most important :)

 

I love you all! have a great week!

 

P.S. Shout out to Miss Rachel Steele:) Happy birthday yesterday Rach:) 20!!

The City

(Alisha's e-mail is a day later than usual because the library was closed yesterday for Columbus Day)

Hello:)

 

This week was very busy and we got to teach a lot of lessons so really it was a very productive week. The sad news is that most of our investigators are not progressing and we need to drop around 4 of them. That is the pits but it is ok and we are praying for some solid investigators.

 

We had the opportunity to teach Colonel Shaw this last week and he is around 70 years old. He is very very sarcastic and that makes it hard to teach him but we think that we kind of got through to him. We were talking about keeping the sabbath day holy and he went off on how other people dont keep the sabbath day holy and how if keeping the sabbath day holy was so important to us then we would not have members who were doctors or police officers etc. It was a little frustrating and I wasn't saying a lot because I didn't want to contend with him. haha but I just felt like I needed to tell him that we aren't on this earth to supervise how others live. We want to help them in anyway that we can but there is nothing we can do beyond that. "We can't pull anyone to heaven." I told him that if he knows that he has to keep the sabbath day holy then it is his responsiblity to do so. He agreed and then the discussion went elsewhere.

 

Last night we had FHE with a part member family. It was the Runge family they are less active and the father is not a member. They have two daughters and a son with a cleft pallet. The son is 3 years old and he can't talk very well so he communicates by signing. So we learned some new signs! haha pretty cool! Well the lesson was all over the place because the children were crazy! haha they are cute though. The thing that just really hit me was when we were going to say the closing prayer. Connor (3 yr old) didn't know what was going on because he was not used to saying prayers. The mom told him he needed to be quiet and my companion started to say the prayer while connor was being very quiet playing with his cars on the coffee table. Well I heard some noise during the prayer and when it was over we saw that the father had leaned over connor and he was helping him fold his arms for the prayer. I just thought it was really special and it was just the best to see that and i just felt that sweet spirit that was there.

 

We are working really hard in this area and we know that the Lord will provide. It will just be in His time and we need to remember that. I love this Gospel and I know that I have changed already. I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week. :)

 

Sister Alisha Nielsen

Welcome to the BIG CITY!

Hello everyone:)

 

I hope that you all enjoyed conference. One thing that has really made a lot of difference was watching conference at church. I think that you are a lot more focused there and you have less distractions. Really powerful and I encourage you all to at least watch one session of conference at a church next session. :)

 

So my favorite part about conference was how the sessions really fit to the needs of our investigators here. Elder Hollands talk was perfect for one of our investigators named Karen. She suffers from depression and I thought that that talk was just beautiful. It also made me think about how all of us have our own little rough patches in our lives and how we need to overcome them and endure them. And then I related it to my studies, I was reading in the Old Testament about how Joseph is sold into Egypt and then through his trials and faith, and of course with the help of the Lord, he overcomes his trials. Well when he shows himself to his brothers and then he tells them that the Lord planned for him to be sold into Eygpt to save his family from the famine. I thought that this was so cool that sometimes we go through hard things to better ourselves and others. So with Elder Holland's talk I really do believe that whoever endures their trials well, WILL BE EXALTED ON HIGH. Just remember that:) I loved all of conference and the family choir oh gosh! so great:)

 

So in the city we have been so busy and honestly time is flying. It really does make a difference when it comes to the area that you are in! I have loved it so far and I am trying to soak things in! haha I am having a hard time really connecting with the people here because they have such a great relationship with the other two sisters but I hope that things get better because I haven't been the best teacher! haha I am learning! I will do better :)

 

Well I will keep you all updated on life in the big city:) stay classy my friends and I love you all!

 

Love, Alisha

"And in the mornin I'm leavin"

I am being transferred to the good ol city of Oklahoma! Ya the big city..haha Sister Johnson doesn't know anything about the ward I am going to be in or who my new companion is...so I am in the air right now with what is going to happen!

 

So people I was unable to get on my email last week because of issues with my email! good thing they sent the problem to the big guys in salt lake and here I am! thankful for people who know how to work with technology and let me email the people I love! word to your mother.

 

I am leaving and that means that I have to say goodbye to Ardecia and that just breaks my heart oh I love that woman! We taught her about the word of wisdom and the law of chastity the other day and she was just cracking jokes! oh goodness but she believes in all that stuff...except she does not want to give up her tea.. and she doesn't even want to pray about it because tea wont make her go to hell. I love her but I will be praying for her a lot because I wont be able to teach her anymore and see how she progresses and it is hard to leave when she is struggling with something but I know that sister Johnson and her new companion will take good care of her.

 

Alright I want to tell you all something and if you think I am crazy, then go ahead! haha but as some of you know, I LOVE PENNIES. like I love them a lot and you better believe that if I see one on the ground I am going to pick it up no matter the condition that it is in (I carry hand sanitizer with me everywhere so don't worry) but the main reason why I love pennies so much is that they brighten my day and honestly when I see one I feel like a little kid and pick it up. Whenever my day is hard or I need some rebuking...(haha sometimes I have a bad attitude! no judging! sometimes it is hard! haha) but I have always found a penny when I needed it the most! Needless to say, I find a lot of pennies:) haha But the thing that I have learned most about this is that Heavenly Father knows me and He knows how to send me a message! haha I love it and it really helps me catch myself when I need to change my attitude or I need to be comforted! I am really thankful for that and the knowledge that I have about being a daughter of God and knowing that He cares about me and my strange liking for pennies :)

 

I love you all a lot and may your days be blessed with the finding of many pennies :) haha have a good week!!!

 

Love, Alisha

No update today :(

I got a message this morning saying that Alisha was having trouble with her e-mail account and couldn't log in. She called the mission office but they weren't able to fix it, so we didn't get an e-mail update from her today.

In her letter last week she sounded great - she is loving missionary work and the people of Elgin, Oklahoma. She said that their dinner calendar is full after the Branch President asked the members to feed the missionaries. They also got a nice new car, because someone backed into their other one and it was taken in for repairs.

We are so grateful for the blessings of missionary work and the growth that we see in Alisha and Ethan as they serve!

OK is the place to be!

Hello everybody!

 

We had a wonderful week :) really yesterday was probably just the best day ever. Ardecia came to church and all of the meetings were just perfect. Our new senior missionaries spoke in church and they did such a great job and they talked about prayer! Amazing people. They have already jumped in and they are trying to bring the branch together because we have two different cultures here! I love them. In Sunday School we talked about repentance and it was just a great discussion with everyone in there. Then the best part was Relief Society! It was about the "no empty chairs" talk and how when we get to heaven we don't want any empty chairs and it was just so powerful!!

 

In Relief Society we had to draw a picture of our family and Ardecia was sitting right next to me and so goes to pick out a crayon and says, "well my family is brown, and so I will get brown." I then picked up a white crayon and looked at my white paper and said, "I don't think this is going to work out" and she busted! Oh goodness she thought it was so funny and she was just trying to keep it in! Thank you for laughing at my jokes lady! haha

 

This week was great! I hope that all of you are doing good! Share the gospel with everyone....NO EMPTY CHAIRS!

 

Give em heaven:)

 

Alisha  

Blazin'

Hey peeps

This week was great and really we got work done! (say that as gangster if you can because that is the way I intended it to be read!) We were able to visit almost all of our less-actives (that is a lot) because we spent l3 hours one day just making bread that we could take to them! I mean it was a success! what a week!

We were able to visit with Ardecia twice this week and that was great! the first time she brought 3 other people to the lesson! I mean come on! how much cooler can she get! am I right? so that lesson was a bit crazy because we were just trying to get to know all of them and they are all so funny so it wasn't all on topic! haha but one ended up living in another area and we get to teach the other two! one is named Amanda and the other is Jennifer. Amanda is a family friend and Jennifer is Ardecia's daughter. wonderful ladies!

The second time we were visiting with Ardecia things weren't all that good. We showed up the same time as a cop showed up and we didn't know what was going on. We knocked on her door and she was crying. her husband (he wont let her divorce him) is threatening to burn down her house and kill her and stuff. i mean this lady is tough and she doesn't take crap from anyone but it was sad to see her like this and what can we do? nothing. the cops in Elgin are super chill and they have dealt with her husband before but they aren't very good at enforcing the restraining order. Its tough and we just shared a spiritual thought with her and prayed with her and then let her take care of her stuff. I love her and it is so sad that she has to go through all of that stuff, but God has a plan for everyone. We are going to go visit her again on Tuesday.

This week a crazy cricket got into our house. The way I found out was because in the middle of the night I would hear it chirping...oh it drove me crazy! i cant even tell ya. so I didn't get a lot of sleep this week and then one night I found it and you better believe I made it think twice about coming into our apartment...haha I  smashed him real good.  

Well that was my week! we got a lot done and we did it while it was over 100 degrees outside! holla holla we be balla missionaries.

Love, Alisha

Baptismal date yo!

Baaaa where to begin!

 

Well we went tracting with one of our members....it was her idea and I guess that she loves it! haha it was funny because the first house that we went to the guys opened the door like a tiny bit and looked at us (I mean it was awkward because he yelled at us from a tiny crack) weirdo man haha but he yelled something about how we are a cult and that his family will not talk to people that are from a cult and then slammed the door as best as he could....haha I died! Way to start off tracting! Sister Jones is so funny and we just went to the next house! Oh joke is on those people because when they do that it gives me strength to go to the next house because it makes me laugh pretty hard inside.

 

Ardicia has a baptismal date everybody! She is the greatest and the last lesson that we had with her was so powerful! Oh my goodness and then she tells us about how she talks with her family about how her life has changed since we showed up and boy she is a rock. We are going back to teach tomorrow! I love that lady. She takes care of her two handicapped grandchildren during the days and she is just the woman (like the man) haha

 

Well life is good here in elgin! I love the gospel and I have noticed how much it really does for us in our life. I guess it took me to go on a mission to really see that. I know that if we continually try to live the doctrine of Christ then we will be blessed and we will become perfected! I mean I want be perfect! haha

 

I love you all! have a good week:)

 

Love, Alisha

Indian Fairs and Leaky Floors!

Hello!

 

This week was great! It was real different than our normal schedule because we went to an Indian Fair in Anadarko to try to get some new investigators. We happened to get one guy who was pretty interested and he lives in Elgin but I think that we could have been a little more productive with our time. We were with the elders up there and it was fun but it didn't really feel like missionary work! So Saturday we stayed back in our area most of the day to get things done! Haha but the fair was super sweet and we saw some really cool dances! sister Johnson dances in those kind of things so she explained everything!! it was great!

 

We taught Ardicia again and oh my goodness this lady is basically my favorite lady in the world! She is so funny and cracks me up all the time! We went over to her house and she was just having a rough day. she isn't in any gangs but she is kind of around them if that makes any sense but she was just having problems with people around her. tough life. but she has the best attitude about everything and she just wants to live her life in a positive way so that she can please God. Oh I love her. We taught her about Christ-like attributes and how we are always trying to develop them. I mean if we had them all down then we wouldn't be here!!

 

Our house is flooding. its the pits. basically the water line broke or something crazy and water is everywhere so we are constantly soaking up the water! it makes our house smell musty. (musty is such a great word) Hopefully the man can fix it!

 

Well everyone I hope that you are all doing well and I hope that you have a wonderful week!

 

Love, Alisha

The District

She caught a frog named Titus.

Survived first transfer!

I am staying in Elgin! woo! the work is starting to pick up and we have a lot of appointments for this week! also we have a lot of fun activities and like setting up booths at Indian Fairs and stuff! ya crazy! I'll tell you more when it happens yo!

 

Ok so last week this crazy dude (investigator currently dropped) was texting our missionary phone and asking us really good and deep questions about the gospel and then all of sudden he would change subject and ask for my first name. no dude haha and then he would ask a good question about the book of Mormon and then ask for my first name again....well I wasn't texting because I was creeped out and so sister Johnson had the phone! So this was like two weeks ago and we go to his aunts house (another investigator) and the lesson is just great and then she starts talking about Brandon (creepy dude) and how they got in a fist fight the other day with stabbing involved....ok not cool! we haven't seen this guy since so that is a good thing but he lives right down the street from us! a little scary!

 

ok crazy story of the week over...this Aunt is named Ardicia and basically she is the coolest woman in the world and she can fight like none other even though she is like 50! haha she can hold her own. you go girl. haha but we teach her and she loves it! she loves Jesus! that is the best part is that she just is trying to do all that she can to live her life the way that He wants. Cool lady. super funny and every time we come over she stands at the door and says "I don't want no cookies" haha what a gal!

 

Sister Johnson is staying too! by the way! shes cool and makes good fry bread. I love fry bread. I will become pro at making it and then I will come home a practically be indian. plus we are going bowling today so I will become pro at that too and be able to spin the ball like the pros. goal for this transfer-become pro at bowling... just kidding!

 

Well I love you all and I hope you have a good week!

 

Love, Alisha

From their trip to the Oklahoma City Temple

Exchanges!

Hey erybody! haha

 

Well this week had its ups and downs! But this last Friday I got to go on exchanges and I went to Wichita Falls, Texas!! yes I have been to texas and it is the furthest south that sister missionaries are allowed to go in the mission! woo! Well these exchanges were really just for fun because our sister trainers are in different companionships so I went to texas with one and sister Johnson went to Lawton with the other! But this exchange was basically just for me because the sister trainers came out to Elgin and they agreed that the area is rough and they laughed at me when I asked if my whole mission was going to be like this so they really tried to show me how it really is! So thank you sister trainers! But Texas was great! I was with hermanas and so they had some Spanish lessons and I just sat there! one man was just looking at me one of the times and finally Hermana Jenkins said "Oh she doesn't speak Spanish" and they all laugh...ha ha ha no really is was great though and we were so busy it was just perfect! And I got to ride my bike in the blazing sun! haha I love riding my bike!

 

We are really focusing on the less actives this week and we did some service for a family. the Elders came down from Anadarko and we all cleaned up the side yard. It was a dirty job plus the humidity and the grasshoppers didn't help a whole lot but she was so grateful! Her husband is deployed and he comes home next month so she is just trying to get things ready for him! Its hard because a lot of people here are in financial need but they won't put in an effort to attend church so the branch president doesn't want to support their lifestyle. We are trying real hard to get them to church!!

 

Well I sweat like there is no tomorrow and sometimes it is real funny. oh boy super cute Sister Nielsen! I mean what can ya do! we are working hard! and I mean sweating is healthy right? haha We recently got an update on our miles! last month we had unlimited and this month they gave us 800...that is a real funny joke. our branch building is 30 minutes away and then for district meeting it is 45 minutes away! I think the zone leaders are pullin our legs! haha but we are just trying to be careful so we walk a lot! more walking more sweating! love it! so do the people we talk to! haha

 

Well I hope you all have a wonderful week:)

 

Love, Alisha

Helllooo!

 

Well ladies and gentlemen we are getting pretty busy around here, well trying to! We have had 3 new investigators and all of them were dropped after the first lesson....bummer. I think people only want us back to teach so that they can convert us! haha makes me laugh a little bit but hey I am getting some experience anyway that I can! And my testimony has been strengthened in so many ways because you have to be strong when other people are trying to bash on what you believe! But what has kept me real strong is when times get pretty tough and people wont listen I say (in my head of course) "its ok! in the end, WE win!" haha it makes me laugh but really it helps with keeping on with the work!

 

I went to an Indian Festival to meet up with some members and it was so cool! oh goodness they we all dressed up so cool! Really they were dancing and we visited with some members while dances were going on. We went up there to have a meeting and we got a little bit of stuff done but not that much! the members told us that they were just camping and a whole festival was going on when we got there! haha but my companion loved it and she said that it was the first one she has been to her whole mission!

 

Well lovely people! I love you all and I hope that you have a great week! sorry I don't say much but typing takes me a good hour to type one line....haha I should have spent more time on facebook when I was younger..just playing! love you all! bye bye now!

 

Love, Sister Nielsen

Wrapping up July

Hello everybody!

 

This week has been great! We have gotten a lot of rain! everyone says that this will probably go down as the wettest July that Oklahoma has seen! cool! Glad I got to be here haha but  a lot of places have experienced a lot of flooding! One night that was crazy we had what they call a 'light storm" really I woke up at 3 in the morning to flashing lights! and loud thundering cracks! I couldn't sleep so I decided to look outside and I expected to see something crazy but the lightening was just up in the clouds so it was just flashing! it was still pretty cool!

 

We are working with some less actives, but they are hard to get ahold of. And many of them have been offended or they are tired from serving too much. It is frustrating because they think they are ok if they are living the right way but they just don't want to make it back to church because it is an inconvenience. But we are trying to find ways to serve and hopefully that helps!

 

Our golden investigators are wonderful and we taught sister White (We don't know why but she wants to take the lessons alone) on tues. The lesson went great and the spirit was really strong! We committed her to baptism and she said yes but she wont let us set a date. We don't know the real reason why yet. But they came to church!! WOO!

 

We get to attend a temple conference on Thursday and I am so excited for that! It will be so great to get to do a session!

 

Well everyone that's another week! I love you all! Take care now, ya hear :)

 

Love, Sister Nielsen

Everything's OK in OK

Ok people! things are going pretty good! We have this family investigating the church and boy they are amazing! Their name is the Whites and they have a seven year old daughter. They came to church yesterday and we will teach them tomorrow! This is like my first lesson though! And I have to take the lead. I can do it!

 

We do service at the library on Thursday and we use this plastic wrap stuff to wrap the books! Man I am going to be a pro present wrapper when I get home! But it is a lot of fun because the librarian just talks to us all day long and she has talked about us to people! what a lady, I think she is Baptist! like most of the people here! at least she likes us.

 

A lot of people here are satisfied with how their lives are going so they aren't really looking for anything new in their life. Hello people!! haha agency. Its ok we are just planting those seeds!

 

The members are great and we have about 3 to 4 dinners every week. poor elders don't get any.. haha don't feel too bad though. The members are the best and they are trying to find people for us to teach! they are great!

 

I love you all so very much and I am doing good and you are in my prayers!

 

Peace and blessings y'all!

 

Love, Sister Nielsen

The sister in pink is Sister Johnson, Alisha's companion. I'm not sure who the third sister is, I can't zoom in far enough to read her name tag! :)

They have some pretty nice digs - granite countertop, tile floors, etc. - not too shabby!!

"Prayin for Rain"

Alright folks!

 

I am in Elgin Oklahoma! tiny place! No Wal-Mart so we have to drive 30 minutes to do our shopping!

 

We are the first missionaries to be here so we are "opening up" this area or we call it shot gunning! The people here are so great and I love them so much! The members are so helpful and I think they like us! I mean we have some dinner dates and someone calls about everyday to see how they can help.

 

It is hard to start off in a new area because we don't have anyone to teach. We have been visiting the less active members and getting to know the active ones and then tracting a whole lot! but is doesn't work very well because everyone already belongs to a church and they think we are Jehovah's Witness. Frustrating because they don't give us the time of day.

 

So how tract here is that we ask them to pray with us and usually they say yes but not here! They say that they are catholic or Baptist and then we try to give them a card or something and they refuse. I mean there is a lot more to it than that but honestly we cant get through to anyone. discouraging

 

My companion is sister Johnson from St. George! she is Native American and I love her! she is wonderful and we work hard. we try to be exactly obedient and just get to work! she has been out 10 months!

 

My anxiety is the worst! I honestly would not wish it upon even my greatest enemies. Because it is so slow and we face a lot of rejection I feel awful. And then I think that I am going to feel awful for my whole mission and that is rough. But I am praying a lot and I have been good for the last couple days. Pray is the way!

 

I love you guys a lot and I hope everything is going great!

 

Love you!

 

Sister Nielsen

Sister Nielsen arrives in Oklahoma

On Tuesday morning (July 9th) we got to talk to Alisha; she called while she was at the Salt Lake International Airport waiting to board her flight to Oklahoma City. It was great to hear her voice and get an update on how things are going. She said there were 21 missionaries flying out to OKC, six were sisters. She is excited to get to work in Oklahoma.

Later in the afternoon we got a short e-mail from her including a photo of her with her mission president and his wife. I laugh every time I look at this picture. Not very many people can make Alisha look short (she is almost six feet tall). I've got to find out how tall President Walkenhorst is - I'm guessing at least 6'10." I'll bet he is the tallest mission president in the church! :)

Yay for P-Day!

We got an e-mail from Alisha today. It was so good to hear from her. She makes us laugh, which is one of the reasons we miss her so much. Here's a bit from her letter:

Hola!
I am now a spanish speaking missionary. Just kidding! I am so thankful that I dont have to learn a language. Thank goodness.

My companions (Yes two now) are sister anderson and sister petersen. cuties. sister anderson is from roy odgen area and sister petersen is from gunison or price! this key board is freaking dumb. I dont know how to use it. The keys are all messed up and i am about to pull my hair out. Its fine. They both have elders. one is going to korea and the other is in argentina. we talk about them sometimes but not while we are supposed to be studying. we talk about it at the appropriate time so that we can prepare and feel the spirit in order to teach.

Teaching lessons is great. plus hard at the same time. its so cool though how the spirit will tell you exactly what to say when you need to say it. We have taught about 5 lessons so far and so we are getting the hang of things hopefully.

Dad, I had gym last night and i beat the boys in basketball. twice. thank you. before i won the second time an elder was right behind me and he said that he felt bad for me because he was going to get me out. shut up dude. got him out. then i left while i was ahead and went running. but it was nice to hear the elders cheering sister nielsen. haha take that elders. 

I love you all and I hope that you are doing great. good work mom and the boys for the 5k. you are great. sorry this email is a mess but honestly i think it is in spanish mode or something stupid.

I know that the lord is there for us all the time. even when you get upset at people for stupid reasons like when they tell us that we should wear make up so that we wont look like men in skirts. no one told me that but in one of the dress code talks i was getting a little frustrated with how they said some things. obedience is the key. obey. and you will be blessed. anywho, the lord loves us all despite our short comings. and he knows us all individually. I love him and all that he has done for me. 

love sista nielsen

I can't wait to hear her voice next Tuesday when she calls from the airport! The people in Oklahoma are going to love this girl!!

Sister Nielsen starts her missionary service

Yesterday was the big day. After the setting apart in the morning we came home and finished up her packing, then gathered the family to go to lunch. Alisha chose P.F. Chang's - good choice!

Her time to report at the MTC was drawing near. We went to the Provo Temple to take a few pictures.

It was a bright, sunny day so the pictures didn't turn out as great as they could have. Lots of shadows and squinting, but still a great experience.

We had our long hugs under a tree at the temple, because we know from experience that there isn't a lot of time for goodbyes when you are at the curb at the MTC.

This melts my heart. Alisha saying goodbye to her dad.

More hugs - this time from her sweet host, Sister Dixon.

Austin was the camera man, Evan was on video. They are such great helpers to get the photos and videos to document this big event.

Unloading the luggage...

And just like that, she's off.  God be with you till we meet again, Sister Nielsen.

Alisha is a full time missionary

Sister Nielsen was the first missionary set apart by the new president of the Vineyard Stake; President Roger Kloepfer. It was a beautiful blessing; he said afterwards that he felt the love her Heavenly Father has for her as he was setting her apart.

We are so proud of Alisha and her decision to serve. She will enter the MTC in five short hours.

Since we dropped off her brother Ethan at the MTC on Wednesday June 12th, Alisha feels even more ready to leave for her own mission. I'm sure the 26th will be here before we know it.

Welcome!

Alisha will enter the Provo MTC on June 26th.  Look for more letters and things from Alisha here in the near future!