Momma, this one's for you...

So I love it here in Corona!! 

Sister Jin and I get a long quite well. She is adorable and she knows it. 

She calls herself "The Riverside Cutie". Totes presh (totally precious) and I love her.

She is from Seoul, South Korea and went to BYU-Hawaii for a year before she left on her mission.

President and Sister Smart with Sister Jin. Sister Jin brought them Hanbok,
which is traditional Korean dress.

We are living with the Boyce family and I LOVE them! They are so awesome!! 

The first day Brother Boyce left a talk on my desk that Elder Holland gave in the Brazil MTC in 2000 titled "The Miracle of a Mission". IT. IS. THE. BEST! Jennie should send it to Nelson. I cried through the whole thing. I love that man.

Miracle of a Mission by Jeffrey R. Holland

Goodness I am full of love today.

There is only one bummer part about Corona...the work seems to be slow. At least in the Corona ward. When I arrived here, we had ZERO investigators. Not even a single potenial. Rough sauce. 

So, Sister Jin and I have been searching for investigators ALL week. We were so busy going through the area book, visiting formers and spliting our area (we now have two sets of missionaries in the ward so we only cover the west side) as well as visiting less actives and part member families, etc. 

So as far as the work goes, this week wasn't the best, but Sister Jin and I had some REALLY funny moments.

Since she only moved to the states from Korea a year ago, she still has a heavy accent when she speaks. 

For example...when I first got here, she sat me down in our room and said "what are your rules?" 

I said "what do you mean?" 

She responded "like what do you hate?" 

I laughed and told her that I was pretty easy going and I couldn't think of anything. 

Then I asked her the same question... 

She said "I have two rules. One, I hate faarting" 

I had a big smile on my face and said "Um, what?" 

She said "faarting...ffaaarrttiinng" 

I started to giggle and then she said "F-L-I-R-T-I-N-G" 

I said "ohhhhhh haha okay I promise I wont flirt and I'll try not to fart!" 

She didn't exactly get how funny it was. :)

I love her so stinkin' much. She is such a great missionary, a very hard worker. I can't wait to see how this transfer goes.

Last night we were able to teach a girl named Laura. She is 23 and really good friends with our homeshares. She dated their son and now he is on his mission, but she still comes over twice a week. 

She has been coming to church for over a year and this past January she really started to consider baptism. She ended up setting a baptismal date for January 2014.

We decided to show her the "Choose this Day" mormon message. She loved it, but still had some concerns. 

Her mom is not the biggest fan and has the normal issues of not being able to attend her wedding, saying that it will change their relationship, that she is being brained washed and doesn't really know what she is doing. 

I said "Laura, I am really glad that you told me that because I already have so much love for you, but I have a story that I feel like you need to hear" 

Then I went on to tell her about your conversion story, mom.

Now just a little side note: I was really homesick yesterday. Actually, really momsick. 

The only times I really get homesick is during sacrament meeting and yesterday the topic was "honor your father and mother" but everyone mostly talked about their moms and how grateful they were for the sacrifices that their mothers made. 

So mom, I am beyond grateful for you. I honestly don't think I will ever be able to express how much love and gratitude I have for you. I could not ask for a better mom. I look up to you in every way. Thank you for all that you do. 

I went on to tell Laura about how you wanted to be baptized and that everyone thought you were doing it for dad, but to show that you weren't, you didn't invite him or his family to your baptism. I told her how none of your relaionships changed and in the long run it was okay that none of your family was able to attend your sealing and that you all remained very close, if not closer because of your decision to be baptized. 

I said "Laura, I know that Heavenly Father has many blessings waiting for you that he cannot give you until you are baptized. I also know that your baptism will bless the lives of thousands of people. 

Do you know how I know that? 

I know it because of my mom...because I am one of those people. I am a direct result of her decision to be baptized. If she hadn't made that choice, I would not be here. I am so grateful for my mom. I am so grateful for her faith and her love of the Savior. It has blessed her life, it has blessed my life and now it is blessing your life."

I was very emotional (I still am), Sister Boyce was emotional and even Laura was emotional. 

It was VERY powerful and Laura committed to choosing a sooner date.

Mom, thank you so much for the example you still are to me today. I truly do get emotional every time I think about your decision to be baptized. 

I am so grateful that not only did you make that decision, but you remained faithful. You raised me and the boys in the ways we should go and always lead us down the right path. 

I hope that one day I can be the mom to my children that you have been to me. I love you. You are my best friend.

I love this gospel. I love my Savior. I love all of you.

Sister Nelson

(email received September 16, 2013)

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Email from Natalie's former Bishop:

Hello Nelson Family,

I just wanted to take some time to thank you for having raised such an amazing daughter.  We have had the privilege of having Sister Nelson with us in the Eastvale 1st Ward for the last couple of months and she has been a blessing to so many.  We were all so impressed with her diligence and maturity in leading the Sister Missionaries in our ward.  Her devotion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ is evident in the way she brings the Spirit when she is in our home and when she teaches.

We will miss her now that she has been transferred, but know that she will find great success as she continues to share her wonderful spirit with those she finds.

Thank you again for sending such a wonderful Sister into the mission field!

Best regards,

Bishop Eric Loudon

Eastvale 1st Ward 

Bishop Loudon and his sweet family with our sister missionaries

Onward to Corona!

Okay.

I honestly don't have very much "missionary work" to write about because it was the last week of the transfer so we had a lot of meetings and activities.

Let's go through the week shall we?

Tuesday: I can't remember.... haha maybe this wasn't a good idea.

Wednesday: We had a Trainer/Trainee meeting so we got to see Sister Packkkkkkkkkkk!!!! It was so much fun :) She is doing great things in Hemet. She was so excited to see us. We were giddy, chatty missionaries the WHOLE time. 

"Reunited at last!"

She said some REALLY funny things. She was asking us about Sister Buckwalter (our homeshare) and Muffy (her tiny dog, who is her child) and we were telling her how she is dog sitting so there are two dogs in the house.

Sister Pack turns to us and says "there were two dogs when I was there" 

Sister Anderson and I were confused because the new dog just got here this week and once she realized we weren't catching on she goes "Yeah muffy and me"...hahaha she HILARIOUS!

Miss her to pieces.

More old friends reunited:
Sister Todd (Nat's mtc companion), Sis Anderson, Sister Pack, Nat and Sister Gambling

Thursday: We had our last weekly planning session together....it was a short one. I honestly can't remember anything special about thursday either...

Friday: My FAVORITE day of the week. We were able to go to the temple!!!!!!!! :) :) :) 

"Wesley's friend from BYU, Elder Schoonmaker, just arrived from the MTC a few weeks ago and is serving in my ward. He's one of the mandarin speaking Elders. We were twinsies for the temple trip."

I love the temple so, so, SO much! 

My favorite place in the whole world let me tell ya. It was exactly what I needed (isn't it always?)  

I love the new improvements! It made it so personal for me and so much more realistic. Our life here on earth is such a blessing. We need to show our gratitude through fulfilling our purpose. Not just magnifying our callings or even fulfilling our purpose as missionaries, but as children of God.

We arrived at the temple an hour and a half early (us missionaries really like to be prepared or something) so we were able to do initiatories before the session. I have really been thinking about the covenants that I have made with my Heavenly Father and if I am striving to keep up my end of the "deal" every day. 

For example, we covenant at baptism to keep God's commandments and to remember Him always and if we do that, along with other things, He will pour His spirit upon us and give us the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

Sometimes I forget that I covenanted that I would do that ALWAYS, not just when it's convenient. 

Just because I have received the gift of the Holy Ghost does not me that I have Him with me always. It's dependent on if I am doing what I promised I would. 

The temple always puts that into perspective for me. I need to do all that has been asked of me so that I am prepared for whatever Heavenly Father has in store for me today, tomorrow, next year or after this life.

Saturday: Transfers. I hate transfer Saturdays. We can get a call from President at anytime during the day. President will call for leadership positions like training or Distict Leader or Sister Training Leader, but if you are just simply being transferred, you find out Saturday night from your Zone Leaders.

That morning we had ZTM (zone training meeting) which was AWESOME!! 

For our training our ZL's blindfolded all of us and lead us into the chapel. We were supposed to put ourselves in the shoes of our investigators and remember what it was like when we felt the spirit for the first time. 

Once we entered the chapel there were hymns playing and then once everyone was seated we listened to a segment from one of the church vidoes of Christ when he suffered the atonement. 

The spirit was so strong and confirmed to me again why I am here. It truly is to invite people to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. 

After that we went out to lunch with the 2nd ward sisters which is when THEY got their call from President! They are both staying in Eastvale and Sister Todd is training another new missionary! She will serve 1/3 of her mission here which is crazy.

We hurried and checked our phone, but we had nothing!

After dinner, nothing!

President normally calls by zone so we were just waiting for the ZL's to call...

FINALLY, at 9:30 PM President calls!

I answered and he said "well, I'm calling because it's transfer weekend" (he always says that which we all think is funny because it's not like we don't know that) 

Then he told me that I am getting transferred to Corona!! 

It's only about 20 minutes away, but I hear great things about it and I'll be in a car. :)

I will be companions with Sister Jin! :) She is a Korean sister that came out a little before Sister Anderson. I already know her because we served in the same stake for a transfer. She is a hoot! I am SO excited.  I should have some funny stories next week.

President then told me that he is really proud of the work I've done in Eastvale and that the Lord needs me to carry that to Corona.... 

That might be the nicest thing I have ever heard. I love President.

I am so grateful to be here!! I have to go so I can send lots of pictures!!

Peace and blessings,

Sister Nelson

PS. I love and miss you all like crazy!

(email received September 9, 2013)

Nat and Elder Schoonmaker
The english speaking sisters and mandarin speaking elders teach an 
english class together for Chinese people every week

"This is Brynt, a blind boy in the ward. He told me that I am his all time favorite missionary. 

He had to walk out of sacrament meeting when they announced that I was leaving 

because he was crying. :( I love him so much!"

Progressing or moving backwards?

Greetings young padawons,

This week was NOTHING compared to last week...

But, it's always a fun time when you're living the good life.

"twinsies!"

Last week we had 8 investigators. 3 were baptized, we had to drop 2 and the other 3 have been investigating forever and aren't progressing. So, this week we were busy trying to find new people to teach. 

It was very difficult. 

We had lots of people tell us very boldly that they want nothing to do with any aspect of the church.

Just last night we were walking around the Ralphs (equivalent to QFC) parking lot trying to finish our OYMs. I only needed one more and there was a lady who had just gotten out of her van. She was definitely trying to avoid us because she waited to get out of her car until she thought we had moved on to the next row...which only makes me want to talk to her more. 

So I approached her with a lot of excitement and let's just say I did not get that same feeling in return...

Our conversation went like this:

"Hi Mam! How are you doing today!?"

Startled, she looked at me, rolled her eyes and said "fine."

"Well, I know you are in a rush (she was trying to get her kid out of a car seat) so I won't take much of your time. We are representatives of Jesus Christ and "

"Yeah. You're Jehovah's Witnesses"

"Oh no we are"

"Seriously? What church are you from?"

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" 

"Oh, you're Mormon! Even better. Not my favorite."

"Well I am sorry to hear that, do you mind if we just leave you with"

"No, I don't want anything from you people"

And she walked off.... 

That is just one example of how people have been this week. 

It's been a ROUGH one. 

We even went tracting one day, which we haven't done in a long time because I am not the biggest believer in tracting. But, we had 3 referrals from Bishop Loudon on the same street and just decided to knock on every door.

The first man who answered was Michael. I have talked to him 3 times now and he has never been interested, always nice though. This time he actually wanted a blessing! But, not right then of course. He told us to come back next week...not my favorite response.

We knocked on a couple more doors with no answer.  Now, the reason I probably don't believe in tracting is because it's practically impossible to be optimistic when it's beyond humid and 104 degrees, so at this point I was very much over it and just wanted someone to let us in so we could be blessed by the AC. 

Then what-do-you-know...guess what happened next? :)

The nicest lady answered her door and the second we said we were representatives of Jesus Christ she said "Girls, come in right now! It's way too hot for us to even stand with the door open, let alone walking door to door. Can I get you some water?" 

Which, of course in unison we responded with a big happy "yes!"

We sat in her living room with her 13 year old daughter (I think that's how old she is) while she got us some ice cold water. We then offered the blessing, which she gratefully accepted. As we got to know her and her daughter, we soon realized that she was one of the referrals we had received from Bishop. 

As we talked to her about her family and her current situation, we quickly realized that the Loudon family was inspired when they gave us Shannon's address. She could clearly benefit from a blessing and it was the perfect timing too. 

She told us that just the night before she was talking with her daughter about God. We testified that our timing was not a coincidence and that her Savior had some things He wanted to give to her that would come as a result of the blessing.

Sister Anderson left a beautiful blessing. The spirit was so strong and Shannon immediately recognized it. We bore testimony of the love that the Savior has for all of God's children and that we had a unique message that was specifically for her and her family. 

We scheduled another appointment, gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon and left quite happy. She truly was a blessing in every way. 

I know that the timing wasn't only for her, but for us too.

A few days later we stopped by Bishop's house to have him sign some baptismal whites and talk to him about a few of our investigators and less active members. Bishop and his wife opened the door and were very excited to see us. 

Sister Loudon asked if we got any of the seven text messages she sent, which we didn't, and then said 

"Oh girls, I have to show you something!" 

We followed her to the computer and she said "I have to read you this post Shannon wrote on her blog, it's so exciting!" 

I wish I could just copy and paste the post, but it said something like this: 

"The neatest thing happened this week. Monday night we received a delicious plate of cookies from our adorable mormon neighbors the Loudons. That night, Cleone (her daughter) and I talked about God and our beliefs and the beliefs of others. Then the next day three beautiful, happy, sweet sister missionaries from their church knocked on our door and left a blessing with us which included many of you. They taught me a little about their beliefs and I invited them back to our home. I am excited to learn more."

There were so many positive comments...we are excited to see what will happen with her and who she will lead us to next! 

I know everything happens in Heavenly Father's time, but the majority of the time I am prideful and impatient. 

That's where faith and humility come into play. When we forget about ourselves and trust in the Lord, that's when the timing is perfect. That's when we receive blessings and that's when we come one step closer to fulfilling our divine potential.

This past week I have really understood how black and white the Gospel is. Either we are doing what we are supposed to or we aren't. We are never at a stand still...we are either progressing or moving backwards. 

It's so important for us to be striving to do our best because if we aren't, we are going to lose our testimony and our understanding of our purpose here on earth.

I love this gospel. I love this mission. I love all of you.

xoxo

Sister Nelson

PS. Bishop Rowe (the bishop who was released a little bit ago) sent me a 7 page text about the game on Saturday...I don't know if that's allowed, but he is now my best friend. Really sad about what happened in the game though.

PSS. When we ride bikes we try and stay optimistic by saying it could be worse...we could be walking. Well, this week we are discipling ourselves by walking ALL week!! We are taking too many things for granted and so we are trying to humble ourselves.  Pray for us.

"It warms my soul every night when I can see/hear football practice"

"I don't know if you know this but..."

"I could use some more scripture markers...mine are getting pretty low" :)