Paranoid, awkward missionary

This past week was probably the BEST work week I've had here in Corona which was good! 

We were VERY busy.

I can't remember if I told you or not, but in my first meeting with the Bishop (and the elders) I mentioned doing a "missionary week" for the entire ward (not just the youth like we did in our home ward). Bishop liked the idea, but wanted to see an outline so I typed one up and met with the elders to get everything organized and figured out exactly what we wanted the ward to do. 

It's taken a couple of weeks but we kicked it off yesterday!! I honestly think it will be great. I told Bishop that this may not be the thing that gets the ward excited about missionary work, but if we get one solid refferral out of it, that's one more than we are getting now so that sounds like success to me!! 

I think it will be much better than that though. :)

We are ending the week with a fireside and President Smart is going to speak at it which will be AWESOME! 

It has sort of turned into a "thing".  Apparently, the Bishop told the Stake President about it and then he asked Bishop to present it in a meeting and gave all of the bishops a copy of my chart. 

We are all excited to see how it turns out, but I'm feeling a little pressure. I am really praying that this will go as planned.

Sister Jin and I had our first really exciting experience and of course, it was to humble me. :)

I am pretty sure I've said this before, but I do not have a testimony of tracting. I have never seen success come from it, it puts everyone in a bad mood really quick, and I would rather do something more productive like get referrals from members. 

Sister Jin really wanted to tract one day and instead of fighting it like the 5 times before I said "okay, but only one street."

We parked at the bottom of the street and started to make our way up.  

Most people were not answering their door or when they did, they would say "no thanks" before we could even say "hi". (We did knock on a couple of JDubs doors which is always fun.) 

Finally, we got to the 3rd to last door on the street and a young man answered the door and was very happy.  He expressed his love for our Savior and practically BEGGED for a blessing. 

We scheduled to go back the next night. 

We were excited because the only other blessing we have given was the first week I was here. 

We went back the next night and Sister Jin left an AWESOME blessing (her english has gotten so much better) and the spirit was really strong. After the blessing, we talked to him about the Book of Mormon and invited him to read and pray.  He agreed which left the door open for me to invite him to be baptized, which he also agreed he would do once he knows the church is true!

We were SO happy! :)

Sister Jin then invited him to church and he was really excited about it. We had our ward mission leader pick him up and he stayed for ALL THREE meetings!

Since I've been on my mission I have realized that not everyone who wants to meet with us has the right intentions...if you know what I mean? 

That was something that we were a little worried about with Jesse, but we were just excited to have someone come to church. 

He ended up sitting between us which was weird and awkward...I don't really know how that happened. Anyway, he was quite friendly to me and sat RIGHT next to me. I try not to think into anything like that though because I can't tell if I am just a paranoid, awkward missionary or if I'm getting the vibes. 

Luckily, if he started with the wrong intentions I think he has the right ones after going to church. 

He asked some basic questions like, "why don't we believe in the trinity?" and then he asked if he could participate in missionary week too! I don't really know how that works with non-members, but I was all for it because he took ALL of the materials home with him! 

We are teaching him about the Restoration tonight and we're quite excited about it. :) 

I have a good feeling about him and Sister Jin said that as she was leaving the blessing she felt like he was going to serve a mission. He is 22 so we need to get to work! :)

Oh I almost forgot... 

I GOT TO GO BACK TO EASTVALE THIS WEEK!!!!!! 

We had multi-zones so I was able to see all of my homies! It was seriously so fun. 

Elder Snyder was late to the meeting, but when he saw me (in the chapel) he ran over and gave me the biggest...handshake. (We served together my entire time in Eastvale.)

Everyone was staring so it was a tad awkward, but I was too happy to care. 

"Elder Snyder is going home in December so this is the last time I will see him"

Sister Anderson and I had quite the embrace. :) It made me really miss her though. We were inseperable for the whole two hours. She is my bestie for life.

"Love her longtime"

"Sister Jin and I throwing up the peace sign...naturally"

"We have the largest zone"

"My babies" (Editor: I don't know why it won't let me rotate the pics this week)

"Love Sister Todd...my comp from MTC"

"Elder Synder and Elder Schoonmaker messing with my camera"

I love you all and was SO HAPPY to get a package from the primary! It truly warmed my soul. :)

xoxo

Sister Nelson

(email received October 14, 2013)

Clocked in a solid 100 miles

Okay my people....this week was not so great.

It was possibly the WORST week of my mission. And I say that because our weekly numbers were really rough. 

I've never seen so many zeros... 

But, some of the elders accidently sent us their numbers and then I didn't feel so bad...a blessing in disguise. :)

I can't even say the work is slow because it's practically non-existent. 

So, I told Sister Jin we needed to do a big clean up! We went through the ward list and visited every family that we didn't have any information on. Tuesday we went to 40 different houses! Clocked in a solid 100 miles that day. 

It was good information, but not a SINGLE person allowed us into their home. A few people got put on DNC (do not contact) list, some had moved and there were even a couple that gave fake addresses...weirdos.

Luckily, the highlight of the week by FAR was conference. Goodness. I love conference so stinkin' much!! I can't say it was the worst week of my mission when conference was so AMAZING!

"We watched conference at the church and it was just us missionaries"

Every single one of my prayers was answered. 

We are so blessed to be able to hear from the prophet and apostles! I loved how President Eyring opened with telling us how topics are not assigned and that each of them ponders, prays and fasts on what they should speak on. 

The coolest part is that missionary work was a HUGE theme!! I feel so blessed to be a missionary during this time.

All the talks about member missionaries were such a blessing. It's so important that wards are helping the full time missionaries with the work. We have been commanded to do so, if we aren't we are breaking our baptismal covenants. Pretty important stuff if you ask me. :)

 Elder Holland's talk was fantastic. SO much love. Christlike love. 

I encourage you all to read and study the talks. 

They will soften your heart. 

They will comfort you. 

They will guide you. 

You will receive answers to your prayers and know what Heavenly Father needs from you.

Love you all! Sorry this is so short. I'll send a much better email next week!

Sister Nelson

(email received October 7, 2013)

Dinner at a members home after conference

"Maybe this is why our numbers were low?"

Go do work my friends...

Well this is no bueno!

Corona has been really tough lately. We are BARELY teaching lessons. 

It's been hard and it's definitely getting to me. 

But, last week we were blessed to hear from Elder Richards of the seventy. It was awesome! He spoke to us for 4 hours straight and we were all just writing as fast as we possibly could.  He said some things that whether he knew it or not, were meant specifically for me.

He stood in front of all of us and said "Did you know that you can measure your faith?" 

We said "yes" and he said "Oh really? How? How can we measure our faith?" 

Everyone was too nervous to say the wrong answer so it was quiet for a while and then someone stood up (we always stand when we have been called on to speak) and says "by our commitment to our Savior." 

That's what we were all thinking....weren't you? 

Then Elder Richards said "No. Faith is not measured by our commitment, but by our actions." 

I thought about that for a minute...especially my actions over the past week. Have they shown my faith? Did I rely on Heavenly Father to guide me and did I trust the path that he laid out for me? Or am I sometimes too proud? Maybe not intentionally, but do I always follow promptings I receive? 

Sadly, I could not say that I had followed every prompting.

I continued to think about it all week and strived to follow every prompting. Sometimes it's hard to discern between my thoughts and the ones the Lord put there, but then I realized that if I pray to recognize the promptings from the Holy Ghost then I must follow ALL of them because they all come from Him.

One day this week, Sister Jin and I could not find anyone to teach. We literally had our ward list and binder of formers and were visiting everyone we could think of. 

We were almost to a members home when the thought came to me "What about Rose Carter?". She is an older lady that is a dry Mormon and the Bishop asked us a few weeks ago to meet with her. We visited MULTIPLE times and even left her a note one day, but have never been able to talk to her. 

I am hesitant to continue trying to get into homes of those we have left notes with that didn't respond. There are A LOT of people here that are less active because they were offended by missionaries. 

Personally, I think that's a ridiculous reason to stop going to church, but I still don't want to be one of those missionaries. 

I asked Sister Jin if she thought it was a good idea to visit Rose and she had the same hesitation. I then felt like we needed to call Bishop and see if he had her phone number so that we could call her first.

The second we called him he said "Yes! I just got off the phone with her son-in-law. He said that she is home right now...I was just going to call her!" 

We told him that we were really close (a block away) and that we could just go visit her instead.

We turned down the street to go to her house and she had literally just pulled into her garage. Sister Jin tried to get her attention before she shut the garage door, but she didn't hear her. 

We quickly went over to knock on the door and she answered, happy as can be, saying "Oh sisters, please come in! I just walked through the door and am only here to pick up my mail before I leave again. You caught me at the perfect time!"

We went inside her sweet home. She looks like she's mormon. She decorates like an older, single member and she even smells Mormon. Weird, but you all know what I mean. 

We asked about her story and she said that her daughter and son-in-law are members (her son was just released as Bishop) and they live in Newport, Ca. They are about to have a baby and since the weather is so much nicer there, she is living with them all summer and won't be back in Corona until the beginning of November. 

She comes back once a week for a few minutes to get her mail and to check on the house. 

She was in a hurry to leave so we left a spiritual thought and right before we walked out I said "You said that you are ready to become a member... have you thought about a date for baptism?" 

She said "I've been talking to my son-in-law, but I haven't exactly decided yet." 

I said "Okay, well let's set a goal that we can work towards so we can hit the ground running when you get back. Since you will be home the beginning of November, how about you get baptized at the end of the month?" 

She said "Sure...that sounds great! I am so exctied to get to know you girls and learn from you!"

We left on cloud nine! How crazy is that? The quiet simple promptings of the spirit lead us to life changing events. 

I am so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost and the blessing He is to my life.

Elder Robbins, serving in the Corona ward with me, bore his testimony yesterday and shared a poem. I really loved it. 

It goes something like this:

Believe and be saved the minister said,
Believe and be saved and rise from the dead.
Through grace ye are saved from sin and from hell,
So simply believe and all will be well.
The preacher continued and read from the book,
How all can reach heaven, both angel and crook. 
When all had been said and the church recessed;
With money collected and everyone blessed;
The preacher retired to his spacious new home,
In his humble Mercedes all covered in chrome.
He sat in his study, his thoughts running deep,
He dozed for a moment, and died in his sleep.
He ran to Saint Peter and wearing a grin,
Said "I believe in the Savior, so please let me in"
"Oh no, not another", said Peter with a sigh,
"Satan's sure working, the tolls running high."
The preacher looked puzzled, then saw in a flash,
God's plan for salvation, beginning at last.
Believing is nothing, if nothing is done.
In getting to Heaven you follow the Son.
To follow a leader, you do what is said,
Faith without works is nothing but dead.
Satan knows Jesus, believes in him too.
So what's the difference between Satan and You?
Believe in the Savior, but always recall,
Faith is important, but sure isn't all.

Author Unknown

So go do work my friends!! Be done with lesser things! And rise up! (Thanks Dad :)

Love and miss you all SO much!

Sister Nelson

(email received September 30, 2013)

"Zone Sistas"