Hey everyone! Okay...so I'm actually writing this email on Saturday. Um...we actually ended up being put on lockdown encore. Long story...I will explain (don't worry mom!). Things have been insane this week; especially today because we found out about transfers! So, let me back up a little bit. Last Monday we had our zone activity with all the Belgium missionaries. We all met up here in Liège and played a whole bunch of games together at the church. I got to wear jeans for the first time in forever! What a rush!;) I'm actually surprised they still fit; I have lost a lot of weight since the last time I got to wear them. Miracles all around! Holla!! We had our last district meeting of the transfer on Tuesday. (I will attach a picture below of our awesome district.) Elder Kaohoni did a great formation on Christ being the first gift and as we are preparing for the Christmas season/40 day fast, we can think of something to give back as a gift to Him. I really liked it! Soeur Hansen and I were able to go into Paris on Thursday night to pick up her legality on Friday. Things are a little more tense with everything that happened, but it was nice to be back. Boy do I miss Paris! We got to stay with the soeurs of Versailles...Soeur Walton and Soeur Woolley! We had a ton of fun. We all ate baked potatoes for dinner ensemble. Keepin it classy;) We all did transfer prophecies to guess what would happen with the repertoire on Saturday. Not even close to what happened, but I'll get to that after... Friday we headed off early to go to the prefecture. It was raining really hard, but it was as beautiful as ever. And afterwards Soeur Hansen and I walked around my favorite place in all of Paris...Consecration Hill!!! Yay! It was actually kind of a stressful day! We had bought day passes for €11 to get everywhere we needed to. But on the way out of the station I realized that my day pass had fallen out of my coat pocket! So, freaking out...I went to buy two T-tickets to get me out. Well, I am so used to just using my navigo Sent from my iPad Then today (Saturday)...oh geez. Where to begin? My mind is still trying to figure it out. So...we are sitting there in the middle of personal study and the phone gets a text along with the others soeurs; which means it's a message for the zone. The Z.L.'s informed us that Belgium's security level had been raised to a 4...apparently the highest there is. There had been more terrorist threats in Bruxelles and other parts of Belgium. So the government asked people to stay indoors. We were asked to avoid big crowds/glares/centrevilles/Muslim populations...basically our sector. Long story short...we stayed indoors all day. Cute Soeur Redd called us to check in and when she found out that we had divided food rations, she and Redd showed up awhile later with oranges and chips and a cake. (We're totally Americans;) We are being taken good care of! We cancelled all rdv's and ended up finding out about transfers by phone calls. Which leads me to the finale of my email. Are you ready?! So...we are sitting there around 10:45 doing more studies after we had found out about staying inside. And Soeur Hansen looks over at me and says..."Oh crap! We missed 2 calls from the A.P.'s!!"....bad news. If they call you on repertoire day that basically means you are either white washing a ville or training. All missionaries go into panic mode on repertoire day!! It's awful! But anyways...next thing I know, Soeur Facer walks in the room on the phone and says: "Soeur Nelson, Elder Lattin wants to talk to you." So like any normal person would do; I started wheeling myself away in my desk chair away from her and her outstretched hand with the phone! Course the apartment is only so big so they forcefully made me take the phone and this is how the conversation went: Elder Lattin: "Hey, is this Soeur Nelson?" Me: "Actually, she left..." Elder Lattin: (laughing, idk why?) "Soeur Nelson, are you trying to avoid me?" Me: "No silly!" Elder Lattin: "Well Soeur Nelson, President Babin and Elder Amaya and Elder McBride and I have all prayed and fasted, and we feel inspired to call you to train this next transfer. Will you be willing to do it?" Me: "Are you sure ?" Okay anyways, the conversation went on for awhile and my thumbs can't type very much more but yeah...I have been asked to train my 2nd bleu! All the other Soeurs have been calling me Maman Nelson. We ate that cake that Soeur Redd made to celebrate saying "It's a girl!" Ahhhhhhhh!!! Not really a celebration though, I'm freaking out! Soeur Hansen is going to Valenciennes and Soeur Facer will be leaving for Torcy. Basically me and Soeur Cornetta are staying together here in Liège and my bleu will be going into her trio when I die in 5 weeks. I get to have my daughter kill me!! Bah how crazy! We're basically going to be getting lost everyday for 5 weeks because I still don't know my way around here...but it's going to be a fun adventure. I am supposed to teach her like I know what I'm doing, bah haha...pray for me! Well, that's the summary of my crazy week. Tomorrow we are on lockdown again unless something changes. Both wards are together for sacrament for an hour but we are to leave right after for security reasons. We are hoping that things clear up soon! I haven't had time to myself in a long time and I'm not sure what to do. Oh side note...because of the threat last week I was able to finish the Book of Mormon in French!!!! I read it all the way through! Yay! And then I was also able to finish Jesus the Christ with being in today. I'd say it's been productive:) I'm sorry this is a really long email! I love you all and hope you have a great week!!! Stay in touch! Bisous, XOXOXOXOXOOXO Soeur Nelson Pic from Brussels gare...got ice cream and hot chocolate! Cou cou toute Le Monde!
Well, yeah this week has definitely been unforgettable. I don't know how to put into words everything that has happened or the feelings that I have experienced alongside all the other Elders and Soeurs here. Thank you for all the prayers that have been passed along. We have been blessed with many miracles because of them! Last Monday night (my 16th month mark)...we had a joined mangevous with Elder and Soeur Redd. We were invited over to la famille Kappepula's. It was a really cool experience! Soeur Kappepula ended up sharing with us her conversion story and it was so amazing to hear the way Heavenly Father touches each of His children individually. I will give you the brief rundown...she talked about how when she and Frère Kappepula were first married; he was Mormon and she was catholic. And she happened to run into some sister missionaries in centreville. When they offered to share the Word of God with her she invited them over. Haha, well...when the missionaries came to their house...Frère Kappepula answered the door and was super excited that his wife had invited them....haha, Soeur Kappepula thought that the sisters had planned the whole thing with her husband...so she kicked them out! A long time passed, but the sisters kept calling her and she eventually let them come back again. During the first rendezvous, she kept throwing questions out and her husband tried to help the sisters answer but she told him that she didn't want it to come from him...she wanted the sisters to tell her. The sisters answered most of the questions, but it finally came to the point where they told her that they weren't the ones she needed to ask and if she wanted a definite answer, she had to go to Him herself. Later that night before bed, Frère Kappepula was saying his prayers and Soeur Kappepula was holding her rosary to do the catholic prayer and she basically decided to do a prayer from the heart and told Heavenly Father that if what the sisters were teaching was true...He needed to show her a sign to let her know. Well...that night Soeur Kappepula had a dream that she was in water dressed all in white and Frère Kappepula was right next to her smiling..after she had come out of the water a man she had never met before came up to her and gave her a Livre de Mormon. When Soeur Kappepula woke up she started screaming and yelling at Frère Kappepula and just crying...according to her, she told us that she was wondering why she had ever married him;) After he got her calmed down, she explained to him what happened in her dream and she got even more irritated at him when he started smiling. Haha! The sisters came over later and Soeur Kappepula told them she didn't believe her dream. Frère Kappepula told her that it was the sign she had asked for, and if she really desired the truth...she would ask again and if the message was true, she would receive the same dream. Well...long story short, Soeur Kappepula tried everything she could to try and not fall asleep that night:) the next morning which was a Saturday; Soeur Kappepula told her husband to call the sisters over. When they got there, she told the sisters she wanted to have all the lessons so that she could be baptized the next day after church!!!! Bahhhhhh! How cool is that?! The sisters stayed there all day and the mission president was actually the one who came over to do her baptismal interview! And so, right after sacrament meeting...she was baptized and one of the members came up to her and gave her the Livre de Mormon just like her dream had showed. What a cool story right?! I had goosebumps:) Sorry...that was a lot longer than I expected. We also had zone conference on Friday. As a mission, every one of the missionaries have united in doing a 40 day fast until Christmas Eve. Not in the sense of eating exactly (though we have decided to do that too...), but as an equipe each of us are praying every hour. We are praying to give back something important to each of us before the end of the year. We have the faith that in doing so we will be able to hopefully find one new ami each day until Christmas. 40 new Amis! And Soeur Hansen and I have already seen he blessings...we have already found 3 new Amis this past week!! It was crazy because the day that it started was the day we found out about the terrorist threats. I have talked to Soeur Ellis a few times. One of the bombing incidents happened right next to where the elders in St. Ouen live. We're all safe, but for the moment we are to stay inside unless we have scheduled rendezvous. Adversity going strong, but we are doing alright. So...to to finish off. Yesterday for our Sunday we were allowed to go into Brussels for our stake conference. Honestly...my thoughts weren't really all there. We were all still a little freaked out about everything going on. But it was really sweet because during the entire meeting, about two rows in front of where we were sitting, there was a little girl who kept turning around and looking at me. So trying to be nice, I smiled back. Well, she kept doing it about every 5 minutes for the two hour meeting. About halfway, she tried to mouth something to me, but I couldn't understand. After realizing that I couldn't understand, she made a little heart with her hands and smiled at me again. So, I touched my eye and then my heart and pointed at her trying to do it back. And she smiled and turned back around. After the meeting she came up to me and gave me a paper origami and told me she had made it for me. Her name is Amandine:) She told me a little bit about her family and I gave her a big hug. And then right before she left with her family, she came up to say goodbye and she gave me another hug AND shook my AND did Bisous:) When she gave me a hug her sister came up and tried to pull her away and she held me soooo tight until she was taken by force:) Amandine is one of those dear friends that I have come to find and I am so grateful for her sweet little spirit that has helped remind me why I am here. The church is true and obedience brings blessings! I love you all and I hope you have a great week!! Please keep praying for Paris! XOXOXOXOXOOXO Bisous, Soeur Nelson Hey everyone!
So...I don't know if everyone has heard, but there has been some pretty scary stuff going on in Paris and even a little bit in Belgium. All missionaries are supposed to stay inside for the moment. President Babin gave us permission to write and let you know that we're safe. We are hoping that everything clears up soon, but thanks for all those who have emailed me...I appreciate all the love and support!! Bisous, Soeur Nelson Bonjour toute Le Monde!
Alors, this past week...I'm not even gonna be able to do it justice. It was seriously insane! We started off by doing our usual Jazz on Pday-they're pretty low key here compared to Paris. We just walked around and went shopping. And I ate my second famous mitriette sandwich! (They're these super big sanwiches filled with meet and frites and covered in sauce...), basically a deep fried heart attack. Yeah, it tasted real good:) And after Pday had finished, Soeur Hansen and I had the fun experience of taking me to another doctor appointment, because I have been super sick. It was seriously the sketchiest thing of my life!! First off, this Doctor André Lémoine is his name...or something French like that...he has is office only open from 5-7 at night. Super trippy. Second, we walked in the building and we are shuffled into the waiting room with pea green colored carpet; where there is absolutely nobody, and end up sitting there for twenty five minutes until this short little man with eyebrows drawn on by crayon walks in and starts pointing a flashlight at me. It was a long night to say the least...but the good news is, I am feeling much better! Well. With that aside, Tuesday...we had district meeting. The STL's came and stayed with us and did an exchange with Soeur Facer and Soeur Cornetta. And we got to go to FHE with the J.A.'s chez Elder et Soeur Redd. Then, Wednesday morning we had a rdv with our Bulgarian recent convert named Kristellina. She has cancer and we haven't been able to see her much because she has her chemotherapy in Brussels. But it was really cool because we taught with a member from Romania named Krasmir who speaks English as well...so we had me and Soeur Hansen and Krasmir who were speaking English. Him and Kristellina speaking Bulgarian. And all of us speaking French. Just one big triangle! Bah, it was pretty sweet! After every time he would explain something in Bulgarian, both Soeur Hansen and I would just give a big thumbs up and say bravo! Haha...he is a boss of a teacher! Well, from what I can tell:) So, after our rdv...we met up with the STL's at the Liège gare...okay, this is gonna be the crazy part of the story...donc, bear with me! So, we get there and we are waiting around for our train, and the big board shows that apparently the one that we are supposed to be taking to Brussels has had a grev (strike...which has been happening a lot lately) and the other one coming is supposedly going to be 45 minutes later...which created another problem for us because we were supposed to catch a connecting train from Brussels into Villeneuve D'ascq where our exchange is supposed to happen. So, either way we're all gonna have to change our tickets to get into France. This is around 4:00... ...we end up taking the 45 minute later train...and run to try and exchange our tickets because we're not sure when the next one into Lille is going to be, and we were all four of us scheduled to have a rdv with a family around 6:30. So, we're all basically freaking out!! We talk to this cool Belgium lady who tells us that there is a train coming in ten minutes that will take us in Lille direction but it somehow cuts through Belgium and stops in the ville of Ghent. She also tells us that there is another train that is set to leave in 15 minutes, but it is another 45 minutes behind schedule. So, basically we all end up deciding on the Ghent train; so, we book it from the ticket office up to the voie where the train is...and we hear a whistle! So there we are...4 sister missionaries, carrying our huge exchange duffel bags running down the platform; shoving people (so Christlike I know...); and running head first into the train. We all tackled each other and barely made it with less than five seconds to spare! Prayers were heard that day!! So, we ended up spending fifteen minutes in the other mission. We're super rebellious:) But...the craziness doesn't end there...oh no. So, we are sitting there next to the train doors looking like hobo's (because there isn't four open seats for us), and the ticket dude checking our train ticket comes and tells us that all passengers riding into Lille direction are going to have to get off because the train we are on is going to split and go further towards a different destination! So, I swear it felt like five seconds later...we're all jumping off the train again, running to the never ending end of the train trying to find the last three cars that are supposed to go to Lille. Okay, I dunno if you know this...but I'm really short, so my tiny little legs were barely hanging on. And I was still a little sick so I was feeling like I had just been steam-rolled. You can get the idea... So, once we finally found the end of the train...we are sitting there along with like two other people. And we are just praying that this is the right train. And the announcer dude comes on the intercom and starts speaking. And we are all listening and looking blankly at each other and not understanding a word that he's saying-so, our anxiety continues to heighten when we realize that we are sitting there in Ghent, Belgium...listening to announcements in Flemish. But then the dude sitting just derrière de nous starts speaking in French and says that he is going to Lille and then we all started laughing. We were able to make it to our rdv around 7:00 with a Hindu family who showed us how to eat food with our hands:) it made for a good time after our running and worrying was over. I had a good exchange with Soeur Rasband. We were in the MTC together so we already knew each other. We did every kind of missionary work and had a ball! We walked through a strike; ate baguettes; walked down a canal without knowing it...until the smell hit us; contacted and prayed with a ton of people and finished off etching beautiful macaroons in a gorgeous park! What a dream I live! It was amazing to get to go back and visit Lille. I miss it so much! Even the smell of the dirty metro full of gypsies;) We ported a ton this past week. No luck just yet. We got some potentials though...we'll see what happens;) we helped our ami Sandra set up her new 48' screen tv. Oh the skills I didn't know I would learn on the mission! I also gave a talk yesterday in sacrament meeting. The bishop came up to me beforehand and asked if I was ready and I pulled the "Oh crap! Was that today?!" card...he thought that was funny...well AFTER I told him I had one prepared:) I talked about prayer and amazingly enough I got an answer to my prayers because I didn't throw up in front of everyone. I'm glad it over! We have zone conference and interviews with President Babin and stake conference this weekend. It's gonna be a busy one again. Bring it on! I got the exciting news that I am an aunt today! I am so excited to set my new little niece Emmaline Jean! Thank you for all your love and support! The past few weeks have been harder for me and it's nice to hear from you. I love you all! Have a great week! XOXOXOXOXOOXO Soeur Nelson Us without seats, after being thrust into the train... Happy Halloween everyone!!!
Well...this week was a little crazy! The days kind of blend together, so I'm gonna try and put together what I can remember. Soeur Hansen and I have basically been contacting the world up here in Liège. Kind of funny to watch us strolling down the rue....the smallest with the tallest:) last Monday night, we taught F.H.E. for the adults. We talked about individual worn and the importance of all of us being on the same team. And if we ever question our self worth, we have individual blessings given to us by our Heavenly Father to remind us who we are. And afterwards we all are food....so that was awesome! Tuesday, Soeur Hansen and I went through the area book and found a whole bunch of L.A.R.C.'s (less actives and recent converts) to pass by--so we spent the afternoon walking around a big ville called Seraing trying to find them. Don't ask me where that is, because I honestly couldn't tell you! We passed by around three, all in different parts of town and finally we decided to try one last one. So, we walked up to the door and rang the sonnerie but we didn't get an answer. So we were standing there waiting and right when we started to turn around, a car pulled up and a guy for out and said, "Bonjour, est-ce que vous cherchez quelqu'un?"...and we told him who we were looking for. And the coolest thing happened! He let us in! HE LET US IN!!! Turns out the lady named Marie that we were looking for is in a wheelchair and couldn't answer the door. But, long story short. We were able to talk with her for awhile and share our favorite scriptures. She has been having a tough time with her faith for a long time but I was able to share one of my favorites Ether 12:27 with her....and share my testimony about how the Lord works with our weaknesses to make us strong. Sometimes He just needs us to be a little more humble before we can be something better. Just like the French language:) yeah, I have a big testimony of that one! Wednesday, passed by some people and contacted and we are now in the process of helping one of our less active members to stop smoking. Her name Christiane. We are working to help her get a temple recommend. Haha she gets a kick out of joking about my shortness. We're working on her though:) and later that night, we ate dinner with the bishops family. Frère Mantua...or something like that. They are one heck of a sassy family! Apparently because we ate there, I am required to give a talk next Sunday. They were teasing me all night! Pray that I can speak French for ten minutes straight next Sacrament meeting!! And Saturday, we had a big fête d'halloween to celebrate with the J.A.'s(young adults) in the wards. We did a bunch of activities....one of which included using toilet paper to do the mummy contest. Guess who they picked for the victim? Yeah, apparently they thought using a short person would allow them to finish faster. #shortpeoplewin. #mylife. Well, that was most of our week. I have been a little sick encore. I don't know if I ever really recovered from last transfer, but so I have been a little out of it this past week and we are gonna be going to another doctor tonight. Hopefully they can fix me up a little! We are working on getting some new Amis. Please pray that we can find those who have wondered here in Liège. Through prayer, we see mighty miracles! I love you all and hope you have a great week!!!! XOXOXOXOXOOXO Bisous, Soeur Nelson Above are some pics from our Halloween PARTAY.... Cou cou toute le Monde! I hope all is well with everyone!! Wow, okay so this week passed by freakishly fast and I'm trying to remember everything we did. The days seriously start to mesh together when you're doing missionary work:) and I love it! I will try and recount all that has happened. Donc, last Monday for Pday we did emails ensemble at the Redds apartment...that was fun. I love them! After that we went to a cathedral right by our apartment. And I ate gauffre with chocolate bars on the inside:) yummy! Then we came back and had a nap. It's funny coming here after Paris. I'm so used to running around metros and RERs trying to see something, and here it's relaxed. Big adjustment, but fun. And afterwards we were able to do a lot of contacting and we were able to pray with a lady named Sarah. It was really awesome! Tuesday, we actually had a conference in Brussels where we were able to hear from Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson and Linda K. Burton and Elder Kearon. It was super great!!! All in English, which was super different from what we're used to....but it was seriously so good! They talked all about self conversion and how Christ is the way to find happiness in this life. President Babin also spoke and he focused mainly on two things. 1) The overall mission goal...which is when it comes time to leave the mission, we want to be able to say that we have truly converted ourselves to the Lord. And... 2) What is the true definition of success? He talked about finding happiness in life of what we are doing now. I loved it!! It really made me think of how blessed I have been with the villes and the companions that I have been given. And not just that, but everything that the Heavenly Father has given me in my life. And one way that I can show my love for Him back is to be happy and grateful in what I am called to do. Not every day on my mission has been fun. There are definitely moments where I question how I got myself here, but I am so grateful for the tough moments because it has shown me how strong I am and we need to have the learning days to recognize the really good days. There is so much to be grateful for! Grateful in any circumstance like Pres. Uchtforf says:) ... '"We sometimes think that being grateful is what we do after our problems are solved, but how terribly shortsighted that is. How much of life do we miss by waiting to see the rainbow before thanking God that there is rain? Being grateful in times of distress does not mean that we are pleased with our circumstances. It does mean that through the eyes of faith we look beyond our present-day challenges. Being grateful in our circumstances is an act of faith in God. It requires that we trust God and hope for things we may not see but which are true. By being grateful, we follow the example of our beloved Savior, who said, “Not my will, but thine, be done." True gratitude is an expression of hope and testimony. It comes from acknowledging that we do not always understand the trials of life but trusting that one day we will."' I am so grateful for that! Haha!! Well...this email is turning out kind of long sorry! I just wanted to end by sharing a funny experience that we had the other day. So, we have this ami here named Sandra. She's from Africa, and super nice. She's got four kids...with the coolest names; Harmony, Gloria, Divine, Prosper:) haha! It's super funny when she yells their names when she's mad...you can't really take it seriously:) Anyways, so we were there at her apartment the other day...teaching her a lesson and we were just wrapping up by sharing the short video called 'Because He Lives' with her...and her kids were everywhere. Seriously everywhere! They could not hold still. There were three other random kids that were there too, I don't know where they came from. But anyways, it was just crazy! (Oh I forgot to mention that she had just fed her kids dinner too...rice and big chicken wing things...) so, we were sitting there and right at this part where Christ walks amongst the people...and at the exact moment where it shows His face, Sandra's son Divine tried running away from her with his chicken wing in his mouth and without taking her eyes off the iPad screen she yelled, "DIVINE...DONT YOU DARE MOVE OR I BEAT YOU!" And he stopped right in the doorway of the room with his cheek full of the chicken wing and just fell on the ground and laid there. Haha! Oh my gosh, I can't even do it justice. It was the most hilarious thing ever! You had to be there...I kept looking over at Soeur Hansen, trying to stay composed but I just lost it. It's a really good video though, if you ever get a minute...you should watch it! Haha, well...that's about it. I hope you all have a great week. Remember to be happy and be grateful! I love you all!!! XOXOXOXOXOOXO Bisous, Soeur Nelson |
Soeur Nelson
Currently Serving as Missionary in the France, Paris Mission, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Archives
December 2015
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