Alabama Ain't that Far.

Well hey y'all.

This is my last post as a set apart missionary.

I feel like I should have something super epic, deep, and amazing things to say....

But I really don't... 

There never will be words to describe what I've been through, felt, and lived every single day for the past year and a half. Ever. 

So, it's just one of those "songs I cannot sing".

But y'all... Let me tell you. DO IT.
If you are thinking about serving a mission and have the slightest desire.. GO FOR IT. I am serious! You will never regret serving a mission- giving the Lord 18 or 24 months. In fact... you might regret it if you don't! SO go for it.

This week has been really good. One of our investigators is progressing and will be getting baptized on the 31st :) She bore her testimony to us about the truthfulness of the gospel after inviting her to be baptized. The spirit literally FLOODED the room as she told us how she's seen the difference in her life and how her relationship with God is so much better now than it ever has been before. 

BEAUTIFUL.

I"m really sad leaving Alabama. Like... Alabama has become my life! 

But I know this must end. I knew it would end when I signed up for it.

BUT! It will live on (soooo cheesy). 

Alabama has, literally, become a part of me.

As I've said goodbye to people I have come to love so much and as I've started packing, the feeling of sadness has slowly been overwhelmed with peace and the feelings of "this is right".

Last night we went to Mission Prep in Montgomery with a few youth.

During it, I got such a sense of peace and knew that the Lord is pleased with my mission.

That is really all I wanted. To know that the Savior is proud of me- and that is the most important to me.

Y'all. I know he is real. I know he loves ALL of us so much. I have had the opportunity to serve around people in all circumstances- well off, poor... etc. etc. And Let me tell you, God knows no boundaries. His love for us, His children, is so very real. I cannot deny it.

I want to promise you all, as a representative of Jesus Christ, that if you take the time to read the Book of Mormon sincerely, you will be able to feel closer to him than you ever have before. Sincerely reading the Book of Mormon has changed my life and those I've met. His love is real.

I feel as if the biggest thing I have taken away from my mission is, in a very real sense, who I am. I have come to better understand my worth as I testified to others of theirs.

I am so grateful for this gospel and all it has done for me.. but, almost more so, what I've seen it do for others.

This coming Saturday I will be having an open house, so come say hi! And then on Sunday I will be speaking at church at 1pm. All are more than welcome to come to both :) In fact, I would love to see everyone there! :)

Basically, missionary work is the very very best. I have seen so many miracles and tender mercy's that I can't even begin to count them.

this girl is going to do amazing things :)

 

 

I love y'all and am so excited to see everyone! :D

All of my Love, 

Sister Kirsten Nelson.

Steadfast in Christ.

wait... is there really only 3 months left?!

Hey y'all!

Last night it hit me how little time I have left. I daydream a lot, and a lot of the time, it's about home. But, when it comes right down to it, I don't want to leave! All I know is mission life and I'm going to have to go back to "normal life"... That doesn't sound too great. Logically it would: I could wear jeans again, go back to listening to my music instead of church music all the time, I could watch movies, date, work, go back to school. That sounds SO good... right? I mean.. it should, I think.
But... I like wearing a name tag, and wearing skirts (sometimes), and testifying 24/7, and not being distracted by movies/tv/music...  I'm so torn. But, I know it'll have to end. I used to be excited for it, actually! I used to REALLY look forward to going home to people who love me and wont slam the door in my face just because they hear crazy things about our Church... And who wont stare at me when I go to the grocery store... You know? But door slams and funny looks and even the mean words are ALL worth being a missionary for my Savior.

"For Behold,

 I am a disciple of Jesus Christ,

the Son of God.

I have been called of him

to declare his word

among his people,

that they may have

everlasting life"

And I'm a do it with all my "heart might mind and strength" and run till the end.
Ain't no stoppin this girl!!

Anyways, there's my little update/rant... :) Hope y'all have a blessed week!

much love,
sister nelson

Packing.

 ----> Well y'all, I am getting transferred. Every time it gets harder and harder because as time goes on, you learn how to love people more than you could before, therefore, it is harder to leave.

BUT! I know I am going where the Lord needs me. I know that I will love my new companion and the people in my next area even more. I know that this isn't the end.

I am sad to go though. There are so many families in the Inverness ward that have become MY family. 

Missions are funny things. You leave your family, go to a strange "new land", where people talk different, and do different things, get put with someone you never met before and are expected to talk to MORE strangers, love them, and share the thing that is most special to you. Crazy, right?

YET. It is the most wonderful thing in the world. You see so many miracles every week (and if you look close enough, you can see them every day). You meet people who God has prepared to meet you- even if it is just for us to say a prayer with them, or testify to them of God's enduring love, or just so they have someone to actually listen to them for a few minutes.

In Doctrine and Covenants, section 4, it encourages us to thrust in our sickle with all of our might. Imagine someone harvesting a field with a sickle. You can't just mamby-pamby cut through the wheat, you have to put your back into it, and use a LOT of force... you have to THRUST in the sickle. Now, there are a lot of injuries that come from this- people would slice their shin open harvesting because they are putting a lot of force, and effort, and strength into it.

Much like this, we HAVE to work hard. One the days you don't want to get out of bed, or the sun is blazing hot, or it is super humid, or nothing goes right. You keep chugging along. You keep loving people even though some aren't going to accept your message, or love you back, or whatever. You get hurt. But, even though it hurts, and even though you want to throw in the towel and stop, the Lord fills in the wounds. He seals the scars and helps us take each step. It is an amazing thing the Atonement is. It covers SO much more than we can even imagine! I think out of everything I've learned so far, I've learned the most about the Atonement, and Loving others.

Y'all. Missions are the best. Hopefully you can see that I love this more than anything in the world. This Gospel is AMAZING and does so much for all who partake.

Also. This is a gospel of HAPPINESS. I hope my thoughts don't seem down or negative, because that is not how I meant to portray this...
2 Nephi 5:25 "Adam fell that men might be. Men are that they might have JOY"... INFORM YOUR FACE!
Keep your chins up, keep smiling, and keep on :)

much love,
sister nelson

Overcoming.

So, we all have weaknesses. It is a fact of life. Recently I've come to understand better what they really are.
first off, the difference between Sin and Weakness:

"Sin can lead us to hell, when Weakness can lead us to Heaven."

Weaknesses are meant to help us draw closer to, and rely more on our Heavenly Father.
In Ether, chapter 12, verse 27 is reads:  
 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
My whole life, I (and every one who talked to me about this), related this as basically "if you are humble and work hard, Heavenly Father will take away your weaknesses!", when in reality He doesn't always take away those weaknesses, He will make you stronger so they aren't stumbling blocks anymore. When WE are weak, we can become stronger through His power.

Through Him, we can all do anything "For with God nothing shall be impossible." Luke 1:37


Be good! Remember who you are!

much love,
sister nelson

This is your time to shine!

Never shy from a complement or shrug it off trying to be humble. Anything complementary about you is a gift from God. To deny that you are worthy of the complement is to deny the gifts of God. Accept praise as it comes, but praise God always and give thanks to Him in all things. - Jarem (click his name and check out his mormon.org video)

This weekend, I learned about Talents. We had an awesome Gospel Principles class about it on sunday and figured I'd share a few things I learned!

*Letting your light shine LIBERATES others to share their light
*The talents we've been given are not for us- Not sharing them is selfish, get out of your box and help lift people with the talents you've been given
* "Faith without Works is DEAD"(See the Book of James in the New Testament) ... also "Talents without Works is DEAD"

This is definitely something I need to work on, I really don't use my talents as much as I should and I really don't want them taken away as a result of my neglect...
So here's to using talents!

much love,
sister nelson


ps last week I ate 12 tacos in one sitting. (aka I broke the record in a members home for how many tacos a sister missionary can eat, soon I will break the all time record of 18... wish me luck).

Year Mark Reflections

Hey Y'all

 I wish I could describe every little amazing thing that happens, but I don't have the words to do it. There are so many things that have happened that I haven't even touched on- but, if you throw it all together, I'd say I've had an amazing mission so far. This week I will hit my year mark and I can't even describe how grateful I am for everything that has happened in the past year. I've had so many moments of joy, heartache, and everything in between and I am grateful for all of it. For the moments I wanted to throw in the towel or "ring the bell", for the moments I was strengthened by the Lord to continue on. For the people I've met, the conversations I've had... All of it. Sometimes, it is hard to see how far I've come, particularly recently, but I know that even if I can't always see it, I am a changed woman- and because of that change, I can help others change.

"THIS IS WHERE HAPPINESS IS!" - Elder Bott

This Gospel is where we can know complete and true happiness. Yeah, there will still be hard times, but having the knowledge that you can be with your Family for Eternity and live in the presence of God, that you can be forgiven of your mistakes and sins, that we have a Savior and Redeemer who knows each of us personally can eliminate any darkness.

I love y'all and I love these crazy wonderful Alabamians with all my heart. Don't give up the good fight.

much love,

sister nelson

Holy Ground.

This week has been amazing!
We were playing volleyball with some of the youth Saturday- most of them had left and we were playing sand soccer with the two who were still there. I had the thought " Man! We are not fulfilling our purpose right now!" But for some reason I couldn't get myself to initiate leaving. WELL. about 5 minutes later, this group of kids came up to the volleyball courts and asked us to take a picture of them. We ended up having the most powerful conversation I've ever had. There were two of the kids in particular who seemed more interested than the others, but they all were so open to talking to us and we were able to clarify some half-truths and much more. Well, we needed to get home but it would have been so wrong to just leave. So we all knelt on the sand courts, held hands, and thanked God for the experience we had... even cooler, was while we were the ones who suggested praying, one of the kids spoke up and said, " I was just about to ask if we could pray!" and no one hesitated to kneel. It was so beautiful and I'll tell ya! I had the hardest time holding back tears. Miracles Happen. And while things like that don't happen everyday, it is something I can hold onto on days that seem unbearable.

Now, those sand volleyball courts are holy ground to those who were there.


Also, two weeks ago, we got to go to the Temple!

basically my favorite place ever.

Now, here is another message from District Meeting! This week was about Opportunity! Our District leader is a Rugby Player and relates everything to the great sport. So, he drew a play-by-play on the board that showed all of the choices he could make if the ball was passed to him. He could either pass it to the guy next to him, or the guy next to that guy, he could kick it down the field, he could plow into the guy in front of him and hope his team gets the ball... a multitude of options. Now, whatever decision he makes, he has to give 110% to it and not hesitate- if he hesitates, he gets tackled. Done. A decision wasted. That is how it is for everything else! We have decisions we make every single moment of every single day! Some of them really important decisions, some of them of seemingly small importance- but in everything, we need to make a decision and run with it. Give it your all and have faith that God will either tell you it isn't the decision He'd have you make, or He'll support you through it. All in all Don't Hesitate! Make every second count. (see talk by Bishop Gary E. Stevenson, Your Four Minutes, from general conference).





Anyways, y'all make this week the best one yet!


Love y'all,
sister nelson

Don't Ring the Bell!

This week, we had a meeting with some of the missionaries in the area (called District Meeting) and our District Leader talked to us about Navy Seal Training and how grueling it is. That the training is meant to find those who will not give up- so the drill Sargent's (.. I think that is what they are called, I apologize for my lack of military knowledge) goal is to get people to give up. Throughout all of this, people go and ring this bell- I call it the pansy bell- and go home. Well, in everything we do we have that bell we can ring and give up, but will we? Will we make all the hard work we do lay to waste because we couldn't handle it? (Now, I know there are certain times when we have to because if we were to continue, we would put ourselves at harm- mentally, emotionally, spiritually or physically). What is going to motivate YOU to keep working your behind off at whatever it is you are doing?
I cannot ring the bell. I am here, thousands of miles away from my very loved friends and family, in Alabama serving- laboring for God. I cannot, and will not give up. In running cross country, you are supposed to run 80 feet past the finish line at the end of the race and you better believe that is what I am going to do! No pansy bells for me!
Really, I love this work. I love being able to serve Heavenly Father by spreading His gospel. I love that I get to give up everything, EXCEPT Him for 7 more months. I love being able to meet so many beautiful people and see them as their faith in Christ grows.
 I know, without a shadow of a doubt that what I share with people is true. Joseph Smith really did see Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ. Through Joseph, Christ restored His gospel on earth after it was gone for years and years after He suffered for us and was crucified.

Keep working hard and loving everyone! Those are the two best things you can ever do in this crazy, beautiful life.

love y'all!
sister nelson