Isn't there a Taylor Swift song about being 22?

Editor: yes Nat, there is such a song: 

Hello!

Seriously, soooo much to do today and not nearly enough time to do it! I'm going to send a quick email with pics of the highlights from last week...

Thanks for all of the Birthday LOVE!!!!!!!! It honestly meant the world to me. Garett and Hill brought tears to my eyes. I love you all so so so much!

On my birthday we were on exchanges with Sister Todd which was fun! :) Brother Mckee paid for a nice dinner for the 3 of us at Taps. I had never heard of it before, but it was really good. We had homemade pretzels, salads, steak, potatoes and cake!

Sister Boden, Nat and Sister Todd (Nat's MTC companion)

When we were exchanging back that night we were waiting for the sisters to come at the Grand building in Riverside. I had my seat reclined so I could take a little rest while we waited when Sister 

Boden says "Oh, there are the Hermanas" 

I sat up so fast and said "which one?!" 

She said "Oswald" (remember she was JUST transferred) 

I drove over there as fast as I could and parked our car right behind theirs so they couldn't back out and then jumped out and ran over. 

As soon as I was out of the car Hermana Oswald jumped out too and needless to say it was quite the embrace. I was SO HAPPY to see her, but it was also special because WE HAVE THE SAME BIRTHDAY!! 

We were so bummed when she got transferred because we wouldn't be together on our birthday. 

Again…tender mercies of the Lord brothers and sisters. :)

"Me and Sister Oswald on our Birthday. 
She's one of my best friends in the mission. I absolutely adore her."

I was well taken care of on my birthday. Lots of love through post it notes and letters and gifts. 

"Sister Boden left this for me and then hid 22 sweet notes all over the apartment for me to find"

One of the BEST surprises was coming home and seeing "we love you Nat Nat" and "Happy Birthday Nat Nat" all over our front door. I was dying. I told Sister Boden there is only one couple who calls me that…and what do you know, Hillary and Garrett came and heart attacked me!!!!!

(Editor: Hillary sent me this pic)

There were only a few tears. Weird to think that they were here, but I LOVED it :)

At Garrett and Hillary's wedding reception May 2012 in Rancho Cucamonga, California

MERRY CHRISTMASSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU ALL AND TALK TO YOU IN TWO DAYS:):):):):):):):):):):):)

Love, 

Sister Nelson

(email received December 23, 2013)

"Proof that I really did help change the tires last week!"

For my thoughts are not your thoughts…Isaiah 55:8-9

Hello!

So, this whole STL thing is making for CRAZY weeks, but it's a good thing…it really is.

We went on two exchanges this week. The first was with my VERY BEST FRIEND IN THE MISSION SISTER ANDERSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Seriously, I can't even tell you how excited I was! We were so giddy in the car…we just laughed the entire time. 

I miss her.  

She's an excellent missionary, but she's in a difficult area so I feel bad for her. She has been trying really hard, but unfortunately, there isn't much support and as a result there's very little work. 

When I left she had a few solid potentials so hopefully there will be some progress. 

We spent the whole day trying to find people, went to dinner and then went to the mutual activity. Normally, we wouldn't go to mutual, but the week before Sister Anderson and her companion had taught the young women how to "street contact" and so the leaders wanted our help for the actual activity.

For the activity we went to see the lights at Mission Inn. It reminded me of temple square..the whole place was covered in lights and there were tons of people walking around. We went with a HUGE group of youth. I think it was mulitple wards. I don't know. 

Anyway, we ended up caroling all over the place. We would sing a few songs then move to the next spot and as we would move the youth were suppossed to pass out "Joy to the World" DVDs. It was super fun. Sister Anderson and I were singing at the top of our lungs and dancing so of course, I LOVED every minute of it. 

No one really wanted to hear our message though. But the youth did pass out lots of DVDs!

"Mission Inn with Lil Mama"

The second exchange I went on was with Sister V. (Her name is spelled super weird, but it's pronounced Vanay so I'm going to call her Sister V for the sake of this story.) Sister V came here to Corona with me and Sister Boden went to Menifee (to be with Sister V's companion) which is a bike area for sisters. 

It was kind of a weird exchange because Sister V had only been out a week and so she didn't really have any questions or need any help with anything specific because she's new to everything.

Normally I like to role play with them of an investigator that they are struggling with and have them be the investigator so they can get different ideas. Since she didn't have any, I just acted as the missionary and OYM'd her TONS of times. Hopefully, it helped! :)

Most of the day we were pretty much just trying to get into the homes of our potentials…no luck though let me tell ya. 

I thought the holiday season would be easier because people would be home and their hearts would be filled with joy and they'd love nothing more than to have some jolly sister missionaries come and leave them a message about the Savior…but that was wishful thinking. 

California is all about the "hustle and bustle". 

We did have MCM (missionary correlation meeting) with Brother Mckee (our new ward mission leader, I love him) and that was a solid 2 hours and REALLY good information! 

On Wednesday, Sister Boden and I had dinner at Brother Mckee's which is always a good time because there's a lot of teasing...even though all conversation is about missionary work. 

Anyways, since he is new to the "job" we decided it would be good to leave a harvesting blessing with him and his wife so they have a better understanding of what we do. 

I left the blessing and before I did that I told them that they will have names come to their minds of people who are ready for the gospel, so they need to pay close attention to that. 

I guess the blessing was pretty good (I rarely remember what I say) because they were both crying and Brother McKee said that he was impressed. 

Sister Mckee didn't have any names come to mind, but Brother Mckee goes "well, I have two names, but I'm not sure I want to tell you." That's a common response. Elder Ballard hit it right on the head…the number one reason members don't share the gospel is fear.

But, Brother Mckee and I are pals so I said "Brother Mckee you have to! Those are not your thoughts, they're the Lord's. You must tell me!" 

He laughed and then told us about two of his neighbors. As we were discussing one of them (Carlos and family) he said that he feels like he should go over and invite them to feed us…. 

(Uh yes, please go do that!!)

He was scared, but since we told him we were coming back in a few days, he didn't really have a choice.

Sooo….we are having dinner with Carlos and his family on Friday!! 

And the Mckee's are invited too! :) 

Seriously sooo stinkin' cool. We are very, very excited. This doesn't necessarily mean that Carlos is prepared, but I bet someone in that house is.

Well I better go, so I can include some pics.

"Happy Holidaysss!!" -Nsync

Love,

Sister Nelson

(email received December 16, 2013)

"I forgot to tell you this week Sister Niihau had TWO flats tires! I helped Elder Wood change them. Yes, I know it doesn't look like I'm helping in this picture, but I promise I made him let me do it" :)

"Christmas Party with my girl Amy Saunders, Sister Jenskins and Sister Boden"

Challenge Accepted

Okay party people,

I feel like I say this every week, but there isn't much to write about this week. I miss my Eastvale days…those were good times.

So this was my first week as an STL, which was also the first week of the transfer and the beginning of the month which means LOTS of meetings for leadership. We seriously had 3 full days of meetings. So the work is beyond slow right now, but Sister Boden and I are determined to work really hard. We are praying and fasting like crazy over here, but we need all the help we can get... hint hint ;)

Since Monday is P-Day, we moved into the Elders apartment. It smelled SO bad I can't even begin to describe it. 

Hermana Oswald and I walked in and the front room is the living room/kitchen area however, the Elders had made it into a bedroom. There was a huge bunkbed and two desks as soon as you walk in and obviously that was not going to fly. 

We have one bathroom, which also came with all sorts of problems, and then two bedrooms in the back. In the smaller room there were two twin beds (that's serioulsy all it could fit) and the bigger room had 2 desks, 4 dressers and a huge closet. 

Seriously, Elders have no common sense sometimes (sorry if you're reading this Elder Snyder, but you know I'm right).

So if you know me, you know that I like to think that I'm pretty handy, which I am…just ask my mom or Pal (Mallory). They'll tell you. 

So I look at Hermana Oswald and say "No, no, no…this is not okay." 

We both start to grin and she says "let's do this".

We started with the bunkbeds. We took the top one off so they were separate beds (they're not light btw) and we tried to shimmy one down the hallway. We seriously tried every angle we could think of, but it was a tiny hallway and a really big bed. 

We may or may not have scrapped off some paint and took out some corners. But, we were determined to get them in the back. 

The other sisters with us told us "it's impossible, they just won't fit". 

The Elders even said the same thing. Which was just what I needed…some Elders saying there is no way to get them back there (especially since they couldn't)…challenge accepted. 

Hermana Oswald and I just kept yelling "No! We are going to get this back there. We have the faith!"

Longgg story short (seriously it took 2 hours) we got them back there. We ended up borrowing tools from our neighbor, taking them apart and putting them back together. 

In the most humble way I can say this, it was impressive. 

So now we are working on making it all nice and cozy. We have 5 different airfresheners in there so it isn't too bad. I honestly love living in an apartment. Some REALLY good times. :)

Tuesday was the trainer/trainee meeting. I LOVE seeing the new greenies. They are so precious. We as STL's have the privilage of welcoming them in and giving all the new sisters their driving tests. 

So we walk in and my dear friend Elder Snyder was sitting on the couch! I was so excited. He was going home that day and so I literally got to see him right before he left. Tender mercies of the Lord. He was one of the Chinese elders I served with in Eastvale. I look up to him a lot as a missionary. I learned soooo much from him. He's great. (Don't freak out. I'm not in love with him. Just a dear mission friend :) )

Nat and Elder Snyder

The rest of the week was full of leadership training and trying to find investigators. Sister Boden and I are trying so So SO hard to find. We literally have no one, but we do have tons of potentials! We have been trying to visit at least 10 families a day. Just about zero success, but we did have one really exciting miracle...

When the Elders left they gave us a list of all of the less active members they visited and notes about how it went. One of them was Brother Ham. The note said something along the lines of "Such a cool guy! Is trying to bring himself out of inactivity. Loves to have missionary visits." 

Sister Boden and I were so excited to meet him. The fact that he is bringing HIMSELF out of inactivity is huge. We prayed before we went in and in the prayer we called down angels to prepare and soften his heart. 

So we knocked on his door and he answered (a miracle in itself let me tell ya) and he was happy to see us. 

We asked if we could come in and visit with him and he said "I can't right now because my wife isn't home, but I'd love to have you over. Let me talk to my wife (non member) and I will tell you a time you can come over on Sunday. I am planning on being at church, but I know my wife is interested!"

Seriously so exciting! He didn't come to church though as far as we could tell. We tried to visit him and call him after church and we got nothing. :( Not giving up though. Angels are preparing him for sure.

Well I am out of time, but I love you all so very very much. I seriously think about you all the time. Everyone. Even those who think I have forgotten them, I promise I haven't, be patient with me. ;)

xoxo

Sister Nelson

(email received December 9, 2013)

Farkle Anyone?

Okay, okay. Transfer calls were on Saturday. It was around 9 PM when President called. I answered the phone and he said "Sister Nelson, I have a new assignment for you. I want to call you to be a Sister Training Leader!" 

He was driving so it was hard for me to hear so my reply was "I'm sorry, what did you just say?" He laughed and said "I'm calling you to be a Sister Training Leader in Corona. You'll be great!" 

I replied and said "Okay President, I can do that."

Really, my heart sank. I honestly didn't see it coming. He continued to tell me about meetings and things and not only was it hard to hear, but my mind was going a million miles a minute so I couldn't tell you anything he said after that except that my companion was going to be Sister Boden! 

I was in the same zone as her in Jurupa and I have been on exchanges with her before. She is a VERY GOOD missionary. Extremely hard working and exactly obedient. I can't lie, I'm a little intimidated, but I think it will be good. We are moving to an apartment with two other sisters which will be really nice. 

There are a few sad things about this transfer… 

The zone split and all my sistas are leaving me. Sister Oswald is being transfered to Riverside and she will be training which also means she will be doubled in (when both missionarys are new to the area). 

Sister Jin is going to La Sierra, also being doubled in with Sister Allen. 

Sister Bateman is also an STL, but will be serving in Norco with Sister Busk (SUPER jealous, I adore Sister Busk) and Sister Niihau is staying, but in the other zone. 

Just about EVERY companionship got switched around in some way. A few missionaries were endzoned (they are staying in the zone but moving wards) which I am really grateful I am not doing because that would be hard. 

I have the same District Leaders, but new Zone Leaders...Elder Wilkinson and Elder Johns (I don't know Elder Johns, but here good things) so I'm excited. 

Corona is STACKED with missionaries right now. I think this transfer will be a good one. Lots of miracles are comin'. :)

This week was a little weird. Thanksgiving was right in the middle which is practically a "day off" for missionaries. I say it in quotations because we still had to get all of our OYMs in.  

Thanksgiving wasn't as hard as I thought that it would be. We ate at Sister Charlot's house (she is Samoan and her husband is black, non member) and they had a TON of people over. 

The food was good…a little cold, but people were sitting around everywhere so it felt more like a party than a holiday. There was a member family (the Coy's) who we ended up sitting next to and talking to the whole time. 

After we were done eating Sister Coy says "Sister Nelson, have you ever played Farkle?" 

I can't  tell you how happy I was to hear that dumb word. 

I said "YES! My grandma loves that game. I've played it A LOT!" 

She was quite excited and said that her family has been playing it and so she brought it in case anyone was interested. We played for 2 hours. It was really fun. That's probably when I missed the family the most. It was just like when we play Monopoly or Scrabble or Presidents. Okay maybe not as intense because nothing was wagered, but you get the point. 

I do miss playing the same game 100 times with everyone. Goodness, new topic. Getting a little trunkie.

Another exciting thing that happened this week , which I can't believe I haven't mentioned yet... I WENT ON EXCHANGES WITH PACKIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

"This is what exchanges look like with Packie!"

It was seriously a blast and a half. I was able to go to Hemet with her and we seriously laughed our whole way through. The night I arrived, we may or may not have stayed up until 12:30 AM catching up (there was no getting around it…no matter what, there was going to be a little disobedience).  

We were together on Wednesday so EVERYONE canceled on us. We still taught a couple lessons, but mostly we just tried to visit people in the ward, which really just lead to lots of talking and singing and jokes and memories…a fun time was had by all let me tell ya. :)

I love and miss you all so very much! 

Happy Holidays!!

Sister Nelson

Ps. I told Sister Jin that we are only listening to Christmas music from now until New Years (hopefully Sister Boden will be okay with that). So we've been listening to all of the favorites...N'sync, Jackson 5, Kenny G and Glee….don't judge me, it's actually a good one! They sing just about every Christmas song. I'm loving it. 

(email received December 2, 2013)

"Hermana Oswald and I at the temple…I LOVE her!"

"Look who I ran into at the temple! She took me and 5 other sisters out to lunch at Cafe Rio.
It was SO fun seeing her."
(Kathy is the mom of Kaitlin and Paige, Natalie's friends who are both serving missions in Italy.)

"We babysat Max while the Boyes were out of town.
He just wanted to cuddle while I read Katlin and Paige's blog posts."

"I sort of love him which is weird because he's a skeleton yappy chiwawa,
but he was like my child for a weekend... I can't believe i just said that."

"OH CHRISTMAS TREE! OH CHRISTMAS TREE!!
We were able to help Sister Clemmer with her Christmas tree.
It was VERY tricky, but we figured it out.
 It's the most wonderful time of the year :)"