Aloha

Aloha!

Sister Nielsen and Penales

it's been pretty good, this week seems like forever for some reason. Like a week ago Sis Yau was still here, but it feels like she's been gone forever. But I love the new comp and living closer to the temple. The pad is smaller, so it's way easier to clean if my roommates will try haha. Also it's way easier to get to places on time when our area is mostly online and visitor center-which is a walk away haha. 

Sis Penales is a cute little Filipina from New Zealand. And she's so sweet. She spent the last 6 months as coordinating sister, and so she's really organized and on top of life. Which is good because i'm not haha. But so far we really love each other and have got along. We have had a few late nights trying to organize a baptism service that had a lot of complications from past missionaries skipping stuff (the baptism was yesterday so we had to figure everything out from wednesday-saturday) crazy haha. But The investigator, Erin Kate, was so awesome. She totally rekindled my faith in a lot of ways. She just glows with the light of Christ, and has had a hard time with family being strong Catholics, with big lifestyle changes, but something really awesome is that she really did her part to know if it's true. And her testimony has helped me. So if I was transferred to this area just to meet her, I wouldn't be surprised. But sis penales and i have learned a lot already about the role of missionaries. You can't just cater to every want of an investigator or it'll come and bite you on the bum later on. Also that we need to sustain our leaders, even if it means a chance of losing a "baptism". But luckily God inspires leaders, so the baptism still happened ;) 

It's cool to be able to see how important member fellowshippers played in her conversion too. It all started by a friend inviting her over for dinner with the missionaries, and from that day on, she has changed into a completely different person, but one that is sooooo happy and can't stop smiling, knows who she is and her purpose, and even though life is still hard, she knows what can help her along the way. The gospel really is amazing, and even though we don't always understand parts of it, and even have doubts, there is no way to doubt the happiness that it brings in peoples' lives, the purpose and direction it gives, and the light that radiates from those who have experienced baptism by someone holding the priesthood authority of God. 

I haven't really figured out how to love online for that long of time periods (because our area is YSA, so like 2 NMs that aren't interested) so my back has been really hurting from sitting so long, and I got this weird eye thing that is soooo itchy :( But I definitely know how awesome online is, because such prepared people go online to find answers and then in turn want to learn more from missionaries. Also we get to contact all the referrals we've received :) 

Keep praying for me, i really need it! I just gotta keep trucking and I know i'll figure it out :) And with a new area and companion, Heavenly Father has only set me up for success, so hopefully i can take it and really learn and take advantage of this time to set myself straight. 

Did I tell you that we've been trying new things at the VC, so instead of having just 1 tram bus bring people over from the PCC we've been having 2 trams and 1 "lions bus" so instead of just having 30 people come all at once, it's 80 or so. So it's pretty crazy. And then one right after the next. 6, 6:20, and 6:40-7:10 are sooo crazy. We get over 200 people in one day through the PCC. It's pretty cool. That's about 1200 in one week. So I should be able to get "guest cards" back, but really even with that many people, it's the same, but more people are able to just feel the peaceful spirit of the temple grounds and always have that to turn to. It's really great though, but I'm still adjusting to having soooo many people around. It's rough, and we don't really get to teach together (which is okay, but obviously I'd rather teach with my comp). 

Love you all!!! 2 weeks until mother's day right??? gonna be fun! 

love Sister Nielsen