Feeling gods love for strangers, odd coincidences, & Memories with friends, these are a few of my favorite things!

Well to begin my email this week! It was great to get to hear my wonderful families' voices! yes only voices, technology hates me! and Skype didn't work properly again, but that is ok I still enjoyed every bit of it!

I realized something very special this holiday season, and please don't take offense, because I love yall and I so enjoyed talking to you! But even though I am far from family this holiday season, I was still able to enjoy myself because I was with people I have come to love! That night after we hung up. My district had made their way (caroling) to the members house where we were skyping. just as we hung up they knocked on the door and began their attempt at silent night, but not everyone was on the same page and others began singing a different song entirely... it was quite comical. but as they abandoned hope to salvage their effort, Brother Mauryama (the member) invited them all in for hot chocolate. while the water was being heated, we all sat in their living room and went through the hymn book singing the Christmas songs. 8 missionaries, both brother and sister mauryama and their 4 children were all stuffed onto couches and chairs and all were singing! it was the most wonderful feeling to look around the room and watch each person sing with an expression of love and happiness on their faces. all of us praising the Savior's coming for he truly is the reason for the season. I felt so warm and happy there in this families home! it made our parting a bit easier on me... because It is hard to hang up with yall! After we were through singing we drank hot chocolate and joked with the family... each of us trying to see how long we could get our spoons to stay on our noses... :) I got chosen to share the thought so I read about Christ's birth in the book of Mormon and bore my testimony of he savior, then brother Mauryama thanked each of us for making their Christmas special. they just moved from Hawaii three months ago and were unsure of how Christmas would be without their family. Brother Mauryama became emotional as he blessed us with success and happiness! it was the most wonderful feeling! I realized that we are all part of Gods family and because of that, we can enjoy Christmas no matter who we are with! it was such a wonderful way to end the Christmas night, and a memory that will not soon be forgotten!

That was my Christmas miracle!

This week held more miracles for us too!

We were able to talk with many different people and bare frequent testimony of the love that our Savior has for His Fathers children!

One instance in particular. Last night as we were tracting we decided to knock one more house before leaving for dinner. we knocked and this wonderful man answered and he began talking with us... he was a bit skeptical at first, he thought we were Jehovah's witnesses but we told him that we were actually Mormons this only made him slightly less skeptical... he went on to tell us some of the things he didn't agree with in our doctrine... all of which were misconceptions... and I was able to quickly and lovingly correct him... and he didn't seem to have much more to say. He then went on to tell us about himself and his children and foster children and some experiences he has had with them. He has been part of many different religions and never liked any of their doctrines, so he decided to worship on his own... I could feel the faith of this man, and the love that he has for his children and for God! I felt the need to tell him that. so I did... I told a complete stranger how much I respected and loved the faith that he had. He was touched by this and I could immediately feel Gods love for one of his beloved sons. I will never tire of feeling this feeling! it is the most wonderful thing ever! I hope that all yall are able to feel that at one point or another in your life. It is one thing to feel the love for some one that you love already, but to be able to feel it for a man/woman that you have just met is a completely and totally different experience and the most exhilarating feeling! he continued talking to us, he did make it clear that he was happy with his current beliefs and he said that we wouldn't be able to change him. I just told him "we are not looking to change you, we are looking to invite you to learn more about your savior and follow his example." The lord will change him... not us! He still resisted, but he did tell us that he thinks that having a communication with god Is important, and he does have a communication with him. Again I was urged to share testimony. so I said "that is so true, the lord loves when we communicate with him, just as any loving parent would, how do you feel when your children communicate with you?" he thought about it for a second and then he said, ya know, you have a great point... I do get kinda upset when my kids go forever with out calling me. that makes complete sense that God would feel the same about me. it felt so good to feel the spirit bare witness to him that what was being said was true. one last attempt, I gave him our card and invited him to check out our website and that if he ever did find himself curious, that he could come see what one of our services is like! he respectfully declined my offer. and we were on our way. There was nothing about that contact that was negative and I did my best to make sure that he was good and invited. I felt so good as I walked away from his house! I felt uplifted and better having talked to him! I have no doubt that he will be one to embrace the gospel if not in this life, defiantly in the next! What a good man!

Now a little humor (and a miracle) from the week... so we received a referral from the collins hill sisters for a man named Jerry, they said he was really promising and took a book of Mormon and said he would come to church! so we take down his number and we call him. I am on the phone with him and I am listening to his voice the whole time I am thinking "why does his voice sound so familiar?" I listen and listen and finally it hits me! OH MY WHAT! I turn to my comp and mouth to her "on my goodness it's "chester" (that's what we named him cuz we didn't get his name) she starts laughing hysterically... so why is this so funny!? Just a few weeks earlier we had met this man... he is actually the "homeless" man that i told yall about that hit on me... yeah... what are the odds that something like that would happen! ha ah! Anyway, Turns out that Jerry is living with his sister here in Lawrenceville now... and we are going to try and get him some help and hopefully begin teaching him because there are no such things as coincidences in the lords work.

I hope that yall are still reading the Book of Mormon with me. Even though I am not keeping track of the days I have left, the fact that we are nearing the end of the BofM is a pretty good indicator that my time is short. I never thought this day would come... heck I never thought that this past 15 months would ever happen in my life. I've never felt that I was cut out for such things... I've always felt that ive lived a life of mediocrity... not someone who has great accomplishments... but this February will mark the end of my greatest accomplishment and I could have never done it with out the support of yall and most of all, the support for my loving Father in Heaven!

Well have a great week! until next time

Love--
Sister Dannika Nielsen

It's ok to have fears and even questions... but we must handle those questions with faith and hold to the faith that we have.

Well i realize that my email writing abilities have not been that great lately... i guess i just get caught up in the Playing part of P-day

This week we went on exchange with the STL's in the zone. I went to their area and worked with sister Kunz. we were tracting and we talked to a young man (Jake) and he said that he had met the sisters before, but sister kunz didn't recognize him so she thought it was the other sisters in their area that had contacted him... we talked to him for a bit, but I could tell that he was not interested... so we invited him to check out the website and left it at that... we finish tracting then we go and contact some of their potential investigators... the first one isn't home, so we try another one across town in another neighborhood... his name is Marshall and the sisters met him and his brother as they were leaving their house and he told them to come back another time. So we knock on his door and the dad answers and invites us in and Sis. Kunz asks for Marshall, and he goes off to find him. Sister Kunz turns to me and says how weird would it be if this was jakes house... I think it was us that tracted into Jake.... I think Marshall is his brother" the dad came back and, turns out that Marshall was busy... but as we are talking to the dad... his other son walks by the doorway... and you will never believe it, but it was Jake, the young man we had just met like an hour earlier... he kinda paused and looked at us funny and then walked off quickly.... man, I felt like a total creeper! "oh, don't mind us, we are just mormon missionaries who are seemingly stalking you..." Ha Ha. We had a great laugh about that one after we walked out the door... 

Then the next funny experience, Sister Snyder and I were at the church this week it was just her and I there practicing our song for the ward Christmas party, and all the sudden we hear someone banging on the doors... so we walk into the hall to see what was going on and there was a man out side.... so we walked to the doors and asked if we could help him. he wanted to know if he could have the metal pipes that were behind our dumpster, he wanted to take them to the recycling to get money for them. I of course couldn't say yes or no but I told him that I would call the building maintenance guy and ask... so while we waited for the building guy to call us back this man talked with us... I asked him if he had ever heard of Mormons before he said no. I asked him if he had ever read the book of Mormon and he just stared at me... so I asked again and he shook his head as if to break a stare and said " Dang girl, you have beautiful eyes!" then looking away and under his breath he repeats himself "beautiful brown eyes"..... "uh... thanks" I said slowly... I wasn't sure how to continue our conversation... so I just asked him about his belief in God... and he quickly went off on that...phew.... He talked about how he was baptized like five times... so I just asked him if he would be baptized again this time by someone holding the proper priesthood authority of god... he said no, but that's ok... then he went on to ask about our food pantry and if we gave food to people... yatta yatta yatta... then he said, again with the same uncomfortable and creepy stare as before "Is there a place I can sign up for a wife... the bachelor life is kinda lonely." I was just praying that the building guy would call just then... but no such luck! Finally he got tired of waiting and he said he wuod check back later... and he walked off. I was so relieved.

Only on a mission would I have these kind of experiences... ha ha... but now I have something to look back on and laugh!

anyway, this week has been alright, we are still trying to build up our teaching pool. I had a pretty neat experience with prayer this week. We were trying to think of where we should tract and so we said a prayer and asked the Lord where He needed us. then we looked at our map and as I looked over it my eyes kept coming back to a certain neighbor hood, so I said "well, this must be it, lets go" so we went... we tracted the neighborhood and  found only one person that invited us back! But this one person seems to really be searching. we had a first lesson with her and we are scheduled to go back for a second this week. How cool is that ! I love prayer! the lord really has his hand in every aspect of this work. 

anyway this lady is Spanish and I thought that she would want to have the Spanish elders come and teach her... so I offered that and she told us that she wanted to better her English so she wanted us to come and help her better it by teaching her. She is really awesome and she seems to understand what we teach her! im really excited to continue teaching her!

Welll family, I hope yall are still reading along with me. We now have finished Helaman and are into 3rd nephi.... something that I really loved in the first chapter of 3rd nephi, was verse 7 and 8 Talks about the believers how the sorrowed for fear that the signs might not come that were told by the prophets. but then in 8 it says "...they did watch steadfastly for that day and that night and that day" that had been prophesied of.... I love this because even though there was fear and maybe some doubt... they still held true to their faith... they still believed. Like us, sometimes things happen to test our faith, and even though we may have doubts we must re-evaluate our faith and take it back to the basics... do we believe in god? yes... do we believe that Jesus Christ is his Son and our savior? yes...  then if we believe these things, then we work up from there... and we hold to the faith we have. It's ok to have fears and even questions... but we must handle those questions with faith and hold to the faith that we have.

Well family I hope that yall are having a good week!

Love Sister Dannika Nielsen

I love this gospel and I LOVE the book of Mormon!

Nothing much to say here, just the same as last week!

We do have someone on date for the 7th of December! so that's pretty exciting! but other than that, it's pretty much finding finding finding.... we did meet some rather colorful people this week though.

We met a Russian Pentecostal family they weren't interested in our message, but they let us into their home to pray with them, the mother pulled several scarves out of a drawer and they all covered their heads to pray... we all bowed our heads and as soon as I went to start the prayer... all four of them began to pray out loud in Russian they were each saying their own prayer... so I just sat and listened... I wasn't going to compete and try to talk over them. when they finished we thanked them and left. it was so interesting to see how they worshiped their savior. They are good people and they worship their savior the best they know how. I could really feel that they were a very spiritual family and they were very devoted to their faith... these kinds of people  will accept the gospel one day... maybe not in this life because they are so devoted to their faith at the time, but that is the beauty of the gospel, they will have the opportunity to accept it in the next life! 

Well family, I hope that y'all are still reading along with me. Alma is a good book of scripture... a lot of it is war, but I think we can still learn so much about how God works and how Satan works... we can see the pride cycle and we can learn how to recognize it in our own lives... I love the chapters in alma where Moroni is preparing his armies for war... and because he is a righteous man, and he has the lord on his side to guide him, he stays one step ahead of the Lamanites. we too can stay one step ahead of the enemy as we rely on a loving heavenly father, he will show us what we can do to keep ourselves safe in this world.

I love this gospel and I LOVE the book of Mormon!

Well family I love y'all

have a good week

LOVE
Sister Dannika Nielsen

PS: so for the month of December you may send things directly to my apartment... this it to keep the work load off of the office staff... with over 200 missionaries there will be ALOT of mail coming in over the holiday season The address to my apartment is

1245 Britian Dr. Lawrenceville Ga.... im not sure of the zipcode, but ill get it to yall later!  

photos

DJ and her companion. one of the members of the ward that fed them for the evening last week, sent a new pic of her.....

His Grace is Sufficient"

Too often on my mission I have gotten caught up in comparing my life/self/abilities to other missionaries, and I just have to continue to tell myself that I am not that missionary... I don't do things as they do, or receive the blessings that they have, simply because I am not them... I am me... but I am also a daughter of God, and a daughter that God loves just as much, a daughter that God has given DIFFERENT talents and abilities to. that's where I get caught up, is in the "different" part because I see what I want to have in others I overlook my own talents... and by doing so it's like I am telling heavenly father that I am not thankful for the blessings and talents that I have been given... I received a blessing from President Wolfert last transfer because I was struggling with this very thing... I was comparing myself to my comp. who is wonderful, she is fun, energetic and humorous and spiritual yatta yatta yatta... and I was becoming so depressed again not feeling any desire to be here, so I went to President for help... and he just told me that I was way to hard on myself and that never at any time has he been disappointed in my work out here and that I was being ungrateful for the talents that I had been given... it really opened my eyes... I kind of expected president to tell me that everything was alright, but he was more forward with me than I expected and it kind of hurt at the time, but as the weeks passed on, I realized that he was speaking with the spirit and that the things he counseled with me about were the things that I needed to hear... I am grateful that he was a bit more stern with me instead of just trying to tell me something that would make me feel better in the moment, but he instead gave me things to thing about and ponder... and in the long run I was able to help myself out of the rut. I've always known, but I have come to better understand that there are going to be times in life that we get into ruts and we cant seem to get out, but it is possible for us to find a way out... we must rely on the lord and we must also do what we can to help ourselves. This life is full of surprises and turns a pit falls and rough patches, but they are all for our learning. because of them we learn to become more like our father in heaven... I LOVE the talk by Brad Wilcox, "his grace is sufficient" if you haven't read it I encourage you to, it has helped me not only understand grace, but also the meaning of this life here and the trials we face... a am constantly referring things back to this talk... it is amazing! wow im sorry I totally just went off, I didn't realize that I had so much to say... I hope that it all makes sense.

 Yesterday I received a rather wonderful tender mercy... as im sure you know... grandma and grandpa Nielsen were able to visit me! what a wonderful surprise this was! The Lord knew that I needed it. It helped me renew my desire to be better and work harder! I was so overjoyed to see them sitting in the parking lot of my apartment when I pulled up after church! again, some of the greatest joy we experience is with in the family! I was so happy to see them and get to visit with them for a short hour. what a wonderful tender mercy of the lord! God is great! I have always loved that our family is on good speaking terms and that we don't have any great rifts between us. I've seen families on my mission that want nothing to do with each other for whatever reason and it has always made me more grateful for my family relationships... sure our family is a bit screwy, but we are nothing like some of the families that I have seen and heard about. This week I have realized that family is where we experience TURE joy... I look over the times in my life and the most happy moments in my entire life have been with my family. I have truly come to appreciate what we have as a family and love those that may have annoyed me before. I have gained a better appreciation for mothers and fathers that make their marriages work, but can also admit that it isn't easy or perfect... I have begun to cultivate a desire to get married, and I think that's a great step considering that I wanted nothing to do with it before, and honestly marriage scares me still, but I realize that it is an essential thing for our happiness and growth in this life and for our salvation in the life to come. In preparation for a talk that I have to give in sacrament in 2 weeks, I have been reading over a talk that was given in conference by Carole M. Stephens "do we know what we have" it talks about the importance of the priesthood... I love that the priesthood is enjoyed by both men and women. I love knowing that heavenly father has given each of us a plan and steps that we must take in order to reach our full potential and also the power of the priesthood to be able to do it all... what a wonderfully simple plan the gospel of Jesus Christ is! I love it!

I am glad that you are seeing the little ways that heavenly father is blessing your life and all his tender mercies along the way. 

 I really don't have a whole ton of things to talk about this week... but as for the rest of everyone  the week was pretty good... just same old same old... day in day out. just doing missionary work. We did get to have a church tour with one of our investigators, that was pretty fun. we also go to do some service for a member, we helped them gather and spread pine straw. and then they let us play with their chickens and feed their cows! yay! and they paid us with half a dozen eggs from their chickens. I discovered that farm fresh eggs although they taste amazing, they don't make as pretty an omelet as the eggs from the stores... maybe im just doing it wrong... we also had a fun evening last night, before bed, we roasted marshmallows on the hot plate of our stove and made smores... yum! anyway mission life is pretty good! Hope all is well with you and I hope yall have a good week

Love Sister Nielsen!         

The Enabling/Strengthening Power Of The Atonement Eenables Us To Do Hard Things!

Hi again Family!

How is the book of Mormon reading going? I hope yall are still doing it! I loved this week reading in Alma 36 where Alma is telling his son helaman about his conversion. I loved especially, the part where Alma is saying that when he thought about standing before god that it filled his soul with inexpressible horror that he wished that he could just be destroyed both body and soul so that he didn't even have to exist to stand before god to be judged! I think that is how we feel sometimes when we have things we need to repent of and change in our lives, the thought of standing before our Heavenly Father is terrifying. but I love as we continue to read, he tells of his repentance and the forgiveness he received, and what joy filled his heart as he was able to be forgiven. Then at the end he says "... me thought I saw...God sitting upon his throne, surrounded by numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God: Yea, and my soul did long to be there." he had gone from wishing to be non existent to longing to be in the presence of God because he had been forgiven of his sins! what a great message that carries... the power of the atonement is real! Alma went from what was termed as the most vilest of sinners to someone who went on the become a great prophet and missionary! The atonement has the power to change lives I know this is true, to take a person who would otherwise shrink from the presence of the lord and transform them into a being who would be happy, comfortable and confident in the presence of their Heavenly Father! What great power! I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real! I have felt it and seen in my own life and I have seen it work in the lives of others... I know it is real with all my heart! We just have to accept it and be willing to change and we are promised eternal peace... how great is that! I love Alma he is such a great example of the atonement at work in a life!

I invite all of you to make a life time study of the atonement! we will never understand fully, it's power, but we will appreciate it more and more as we study and use it's redemptive power!

The atonement isn't just for the healing of sin though! there are great powers of the atonement... one in particular that I love is the enabling/strengthening power of the atonement! that enables us to do hard things!

I got this from one of my companions and I just love it!  

The six powers of the Atonement

C-cleansing power

H-healing power

R-resurrecting power

I-understand power (Christ knows how we feel) 

S-strengthening power

T-transforming power  

I could make a life long study of these powers!    

ok now onto the funny part of this week, it was another interesting week! we met a very interesting lady we call her Wendy! So we knock on her door and we introduce ourselves as representatives of Jesus Christ and she says "oh, I am too!! What church do you belong to?" so we told her and then she says "oh... the Mormons...?" yes ma'am the "Mormons" then she begins to go off about how we don't believe in Christ and how we believe in witchcraft and dark powers... yatta yatta yatta... I stopped her and I said actually ma'am you have been misinformed, our faith has absolutely NOTHING to do with such things... where did you get your information... "from the internet" so I asked her if she would mind visiting our website to see what we really believe and she looked very skeptically at the Mormon.org card that I held out and said "actually I would mind...no thank you!" she then went on to tell us about a woman who had committed a murder recently and she was Mormon and how could a person that claimed to believe in Jesus Christ do such a thing unless evil spirits were telling her to do it... I just laughed at her and said "Ma'am, there are people of ALL different faiths who do horrible things, not just Mormons... they for whatever reason have chosen not to follow Christ. She didn't really say much after that, but then she told us that there was something weird going on in our religion and that we needed to pray about it so we could make a better choice. then she asked if we as Mormons celebrated Halloween and I told her that we did participate in the festivities for the fun of it! then she began to go off on how Halloween is the devils holiday and that it was "satan's way to train lil Jonny to be a devil worshipper" I just laughed and told her to have a good day! and we left... we got a really great laugh out of it though! she was a funny lady!! We meet the most interesting people out tracting! it's fun when we get crazy stories from it! ha ha!

Last night I received a prompting to go and visit a referral that we had try contacting and he stood us up.. but I had the thought to got check on him again... so we went and stopped by his house and he and his wife were home and he invited us in and asked us to tell them about the book of Mormon... so we did an impromptu lesson on the restoration of the gospel! and at the end the guy said "now I haven't been baptized, but if I got baptized I would want my whole family to be baptized." so we explained to him that the lessons that we teach would prepare him for baptism! and he said he would like that and so we will be seeing him again on Thursday!! WOW! that was so awesome! Whitewashing an area is hard, but the lord blesses us as we are obedient to him and his commandments... as we follow promptings and do as we are asked the lord has blessings just waiting for us! I LOVE my mission!

Well family, I hope that yall are having a blessed week! I love yall so much and I will talk to yall soon!

LOVE,
Sister Dannika Nielsen

it's the Roach Motel, but we call it home.... eeeek!

Well family I have been transferred to Lawrenceville with my new companion whom I am training, sister Snyder, she I a brand new 19 year old sister and she is great! upon arriving to our new area we were greeted by SEVERAL cockroaches... the carpet was crawling with the lil buggers! we had the office come and spray... and they are slowly dying off, but every night while we plan... one will get brave and run across my desk... and now instead of screaming like a little girl I just kill them... and yes, with my bare hands... because they are so fast, I don't have time to run and get a shoe... so I have become skilled in killing the nasty critters!

our apartment is actually in the boundaries of the Lilburn ward which borders the Lawrenceville ward... so there are members in the complex who i've eaten with while I was in Lilburn... kinda crazy!

Anyway, we are, what we call "white- washing" we are a brand new set of missionaries so we know nothing about the area, and we have no investigators to teach we know no one... it's challenging, but we just keep workin hard. the work keeps on moving forward...

I am really excited to hear from Elder Oaks this week as he will be speaking to your mission on Saturday!

I am loving my mission still and I am so glad that I have served! this has been the greatest experience of my life and will continue to produce blessings throughout my life

well family I hope that you all are having a great week

LOVE!! ya !!

love
Sister Dannika Nielsen

Elder Oaks is coming!!!

 Elder Oaks from the twelve is coming to our mission to talk with us!! Yay my first apostle on my mission! I am SO EXCITED!

Oh and I am being transferred to Lawrenceville... back to the Lilburn stake for me! and there is another sister there who is training, her name Is sister Nelson... ha ha a sister Nielsen and a sister Nelson in the same ward... that is gonna be confusing!

Oh and I am also training a new missionary... ive been called to train again... president told me to tell you that he says I am one of the best missionaries in the mission... I don't know if I believe that, but I a definitely one of the oldest... ha ha!

 

So, things are going well... we have 3 investigators on date for baptism... of course now that I am leaving... but that's ok.

I am really nervous to train again, I know I have done it twice before, but I really jut hope that I can measure up to the challenge...

have a good week!

Pray for baptisms and they will be given to you!

CHECK OUT ctrlds.org and then look under johns creek ward and the last updated pics are of my birthday! ha ha they are fun!!

I hope that yall are still reading along with me! we are in alma now... i LOVE the book of alma i know it is alot of war... but we can learn so much from these chapters!!

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE BIRTHDAY WISHES!!! 

So this week sister allen and i have really been focusing on finding new investigators... because our teaching pool was becoming shallow... the great people we were teaching were beginning to drop off... so everytime we prayed we would ask to be able to find those who would be serious about baptism... we prayed and prayed and then tracted and tracted... finally at the end of the week we get a txt from one of the ladies in our ward!! "Sisters, this is huge!! my sister in law wants to be baptized!!" so we have a brand new investigator that we will begin teaching this week... then yesterday we put another one of our investigators on date for november 9th... and then we met another little family that we prayed with and they said they would like to learn more about the church, then another one last night who said she was looking for a different church and she told us to come back this coming week to teach her... all in one weekend we were blessed to make some pretty great progress in increasing our teaching pool! 

well family im sorry there isn't more to tell this week... it's been alot of finding this week

i hope yall are having a great week

Sister Dannika Nielsen

A good ole southern hospitality "go to hell"

So yesterday was really tough! we tracted for an hour before our lesson... we came to a door and a man quickly but nicely told us that he wasn't interested and then as he closed the door, in the same sickly sweet tone he said "and you can go to hell!" 

Wow! such a good guy! then our appointment that we were supposed to have fell through... the man cam to the door just yelling at us and saying that he didn't like white people and that they has no right to treat him the way they did... aparently earlier that morning a white couple accued him of something and said that if they didn't pay them 20 dollars they would call the cops... and because he is forigen he paid the money... but he was all sorts of ticked off and hating on white people... can't say that i blame him.. that is pretty rude Then later that night, we knocked on another door and the man came to the door with a gun... ha ha... that is the second time that's happened on my mission.. fun stuff

Well this week was pretty hard! but on thing that i loved that happened this week amidst the hard parts... we met with one of our investigators... we were on exchange so it was me and a different sister, but we had planned on teaching from alma 36 about the repentance and forgiveness of alma... and when i asked if we could start with a prayer, he said he wanted to say the prayer... this was the first time that he had prayed in front of us... and as he offered the prayer he asked Father for forgiveness and he began to cry... as he pleaded with his Father for help to change... tears began to fill my eyes as i thought of how perfect the lesson that we had planned for him was... i thanked him for the beautiful prayer and i expressed to him that i knew that the lesson we were going to share was for him... and i testified to him that he could change and his Father would help him!! the lesson was great! the spirit was so strong... it was a wonderful lesson!!!

well, i hope yall are still reading along with me! 

i love yall hope you have a good week

sister nielsen 

Below:
Dannika hit her 1 year mark......

Some random persons pet pig....

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Sister Dannika Nielsen

That awkward moment when you get kissed by a drunk man....uhhhh yep it happened!

HA HA so....i decided to put in the subject line for my emails, something funny that happened during my week... hope they make you laugh as much as they did me!

So let me explain! We were tracting an apartment complex in the middle of the afternoon and we came across two men standing outside so what do we do... we go talk to them... why... because we are missionaries.... that's what we do! so we get their attention by saying hi and walking toward them when we got closer to them there were obvious signs that they were drunk... the two men were enlisting the aid of their patio railing to help them stand and there were beer cans all over the ground... by this point we can't turn and leave... we've already engaged them in conversation and when we got closer... the smell of alcohol was aparent and their words were slered and the one man could hardly stand on his own... i hate to admit it, but it kinda made me laugh a little inside to watch this drunken scene... ha ha... so as i reached my hand out to introduce myself... the first man took my hand then before i could react, he pulled me in close and planted a big ole drunken, sweaty kiss on the cheek!! eehhkk!... i was completely speachless my attempt at sharing the gospel was ruined... but my comp though finding it hard to not laugh made a valiant attempt to share with them... we were hoping that it would have been one of thoes experiences where the gospel would awaken them from their drunken stoopers.... well better luck next time i guess! WOW!!!... well that was fun!!  

well family now that yall are rolling on the floor in laughter... how has your week been? hope yall have been good! 

my week was pretty good... drunk sweaty kisses and all! ha ha! 

this week was interesting! we had several return appointments with people and we had members all lined up to come us and everything... and  throughout the week every single one of the appointments fell through.... ehhhh so frustrating!! Last night the Lord helped to cheer us on though... we were eating dinner with a member and out of nowhere the husband turned to us and said " sisters... i just want you to know that you are doing such a great job out here! and you never know what impact you will have on people, but i want you to know that what you are doing is amazing! keep it up!" He had no idea that we had had a hard week, or that we were a bit discouraged, but i truly believe that he acted on a prompting and said thoes words that brought comfort to mine and my comps hearts... the lord is truly aware of our situations and he puts people into our lives will help us by sayngor doing the things we need at the time....But, even though we weren't having much success with return appointments... we did get in with a man that we have been trying to work with... and he has been meeting with us for the past week! This man is so incredible! He understands the scriptures so well, and he wants to change his life, he is caught up in some addictions that are going to make it diffiult for him, but i can see that he has a sincere desire to change... and it is the most beautiful thing to watch his eyes light up when we come to his house and he feels the spirit! The Atonement and the Gospel of Jesus Christ are amazing things i have so enjoyed watching people change and become the person that god wants them to be, and tap into the potential that they have as heirs to His kingdom... what a powerful life changing force that i get to deal with everday... i am so humbled by this opprotunity! What i think i love the most, is being able to catch a glimpse of the way that Heavenly Father sees these people that we meet and especially those that we work with... i can't explain it, but in my minds eye i can see these people accepting the gosple, i can see them dressed in white as they are baptized, then sitting in the middle of the circle with worthy melchizedek priesthood holders, receving the holy ghost... then going on and becoming a person that can feel the spirit and has peace of mind because they know that they are right with god... and then picturing the light in their eyes as they use the gosple in their lives.... when that scene flashes across my mind... there is an instant love that fills my heart... and i have seen them the way that their Heavenly Father sees them and that is the most incredible feeling that i have ever experienced. Once i can see someone the way Father sees them, it is impossible to dislike them, and impossible to forget them.... i know why missionaries are torn when they leave their missions... i will truly be torn when i leave these people that i have come to love so much. 

So this man that we have been workin with came to church with one of the members that we introduced him to... it was great to see him at church! and he seemed to really like it! 

i am so great ful for members who are willing to come and meet our investigators and help them out. This member that has felloshipped our investigator has really taken seriously his responsilities. he is not just his fellowshipper... but he is his friend. I just love this member his name is Bro. Prince and i have just been so impressed with him... he is a quiet and gentle man... never wants to be recognized... he just goes about doing good... i just love him and admire him so much! Members make all the difference in the world of the investigators... i hope that i can be a great member missionary when i get home!

Well family i hope yall are still reading along with me and didn't you just love the story of Abinadi what a great man! i am always amazed at his boldness! He really lets thoes wicked preists have it! 

I also love Alma... how his heart was prepared to recieve the words that abinadi had to say... Abinadi had a rough mission, he didn't get to see much fruit from his efforts.... but Alma was directly effected by his influence... what a great story!  we never do know what influence our words, or our examples will have on someone!

Well family i love yall and i hope that yall have a blessed week

L_O_V_E
Sister Dannika Nielsen

As we use the atonement in our lives we can let go of the things that keep us bound

Hello Family!

Hope all is well, hope your reading is still coming along! this morning i read mosiah 10 and loved :11-17 it talks about why the Lamanites hated the nephites so much... pretty much wat it says it that the hatred stemmed from laman and lemuel because the thought they were WRONGED when nephi was chosen to rule and when they had to leave Jerusalem and then again when nephi parted from them and took the plates with him.. they said he robbed them... and this was what they told their children and their children told their children... down through the many generations, until the lamanites became mortal enemies to the nephites... it was just so interesting to me that by this time in the book of mormon, lamen lemuel and nephi have been gone for quite some time, but this hatred still lives on... and this hatred has nothing to do with the lamenites that live at this time... they really had no reason to hate them, but since the stories and hatred was taught by their parents... that's just what they know! It is amazing to me how long lasting hatred can be... all because laman and lemuel held a grudge against Nephi... we see the cconstant battle between the two nations... these grudges were so petty too, and they went on to destroy nations... so sad... i know how important it is that we do not hold grudges, because when we hold a grudge, we teach hate whether we mean to or not, but those who watch us, learn hate by our holding a grudge... that may be our children or a companion, a spouse...ect. In church yesterday we learned about the healing power of forgiveness... even though hate is a powerful thing and has lead to the destruction of many nations, the atonement and the love that accompanies this powerful gift is much more powerful.. it can, if it is utilized, erase hate and ease the burden of a grudge... it is stronger then hate. As we use the atonement in our lives we can let go of the things that keep us bound and we can be transformed into a being that is comfortable in the presence of god! i know this to be true... i have seen it in my own life and in the lives of my investigators... the atonement is a powerful thing!

Well family this week hasn't been to eventful, but i have seen many miracles, and i have met some pretty neat people... i hope that you all have a wonderful day and i will talk to yall soon

love
Sister Dannika Nielsen

mountains to climb

I feel prompted to invite yall to watch the mormon message entitled "mountains to climb" you can find it on mormonchannel.org this message gets me every time... Elder Eyring is so powerful and the images that go along with the message are incredible!!

We all have trials but it is our faith in Jesus Christ that will get us through them!

love yall

--
Sister Dannika Nielsen

Our God is a God of miracles!

Hey Hey Yall

This week is transfer week... i am staying here in Johns Creek, but bittersweetly (is that even a word...oh well, it is now!! ha ha) i am getting a new companion... Sister Allen will be my new comp... i get to train her on the in's and out's of being a sister training leader... yay... unfortunately i will be loosing sister hamilton... sad days :( i will miss her greatly and hope that i can fill the rather LARGE shoes she has left for me to fill, not only did she leave big shoes, but also took up quite alot of room in these ward members hearts... this ward absolutely loves her and i just hope they can find room enough in their hearts for me... im sad to see her go... i really do love and admire her... but such is missionary life.

Glad to hear that yall are still reading. I have finally caught back up and am now right on track! I would really love it if yall would share some of your experiences with me about how the reading is going, what you think about what you read what miracles you have seen in your life as you have begun reading...etc. i love hearing others insights and especially miracles... those always brighten my day! So please, share with me! Yall are aloud to email me dannika.nielsen@myldsmail.net and with the new rules i can respond to any emails now, so id love to hear from yall! 

Well this week was really good... another hard working week! So sister hamilton and I set a goal this week to have 8 lessons with investigators with a member present... also known as a LIMP for short... getting LIMPs is kind of a struggle but we had been hitting 5 and 6 consistently and this week we had more investigators lined up than we had had in awhile... so we prayed and decided that we could hit 8 this week. so we put that as our goal and then with in two days 2 of our investigators that we had planned on meeting with twice this week, dropped us... so that is 4 LIMPs we wouldn't get... over half our goal.... but we knew that we had prayed about it and that is what we felt good about, so instead of changing it... we decided to go through with it... and something amazing happened this week... all week as we went about trying to achieve our goals, we had 3 former investigators pop back up and we were able to have member present lessons with them and and another new investigator that we had found while tracting one day invited us back the next day and we were able to find a member to come with us! All four of the lost LIMPs were made up... can you believe it!!! I totally and completely amazed at the goodness of God... He is most amazing!! I learned a great lesson that hard work and trust in the Lord brings about miracles! We had no idea where we were going to come up with those 4 extra LIMPs. but as we just went and did, the Lord provided a way for us to achieve our goals!! for a while there we were sweating it, because 4 days into the week we only had 2 LIMPs, but then friday came and that's when the miracle really happened!!  

     Ether 12:6 And now I Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; i would show unto the world that faith is things hoped for and not seen; wherefore dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.

This scripture has come to life this week as we really didn't see how it was going to be possible for us to make our goals, but we hoped for things unseen, we disputed not because we felt that it was an attainable goal when we made it so we tried our faith and went to work and it wasn't till then that we were able to see the miracle unfold!! what and amazing week it was alone having met our goal... not to mention all the wonderful people we met and the lessons we had!

I know that as we put our faith to the test and push forward even though we can't see the possible outcomes, the lord will show us miracles! it won't be right away, it may not even happen until you have taken the last step that you think you can possibly take... but the Lord will ALWAYS be there to show you a miracle and keep you from giving up, he will build our faith and we will be stronger for the next trial... open your eyes to the miracles that happen in your life daily, and it will be easier to endure the trials you may be in right now... and if you don't know how to open you eyes to his miracles, i invite you to pray and ask your loving Heavenly Father for help to recognize the miracles he preforms daily! I testify that miracles have not nor will they ever cease as long as faith remains. Our God is a God of miracles! 

Well, im sorry that it isn't a super long email, but i do hope yall know that i have a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, i know it's true and i know it makes the soul happy beyond description. It's a tough world out there and the trials seem unbearable at times, but i know that with my Father and Savior at my side, i can make it through all things! I am forever indebted to the Father and my Savior. I love them with all my heart!

I hope yall have a great week. Hope that you see lots of miracles i love yall

LOVE-
Sister Dannika Nielsen

I LOVE THE BOOK OF MORMON!!!

Hello Family!

Before I get started... MOM, do you know a Shane Osterhout he was from Declo... well i've met one of the members out here who served in Scotland with Shane as one of his companions and he was wanting to get ahold of him, so I thought Id ask and see if you knew him and knew how this brother could get ahold of him... what a small world... oh and what makes the world even smaller... Sister Hamilton knows Landon!!! oh my what!!!     

I hope y'all are still reading with me... ive had to play a little catch up this week as I hit Jacob 5 and it absolutely came alive and I couldn't move past it because I was learning so much from the allegory of the olive tree... to be honest, I have always dreaded and often skipped over Jacob 5 because I just couldn't wrap my head around what was being talked about... but this time through, I received a HUGE help... its called a Seminary student manual These things are like GOLD!!! why didn't we ever use them in seminary!!!.... it takes you chapter by chapter through the book of Mormon (we also got one for the D&C and the old testament)  and it really helped me get so much out of Jacob 5. I know I say this every time, but I can't say it enough I LOVE THE BOOK OF MORMON!!! I remember when I was a baby missionary and my wise and beautiful trainer would tell me all the time how much she loved the Book of Mormon... and I believed her because I could tell that she really did and I remember thinking to myself " I hope that I can say that about the Book of Mormon when I am as great as her..." because at that time I knew that the Book of Mormon was true, but I didn't really have that great of a love for it because my understanding of it was really not all that clear, and I still have a lifetime of learning I can get from it's pages, but the more I read, the more I understand and the more I fall in love with it's message... and I can now echo the sentiments of my trainer when I say that I truly love this book! Family, I hope that you are able to feel a love for this book begin to grow within yourselves... the knowledge of the truthfulness of this book means more to me than ANYTHING in this world... because if this book is true than God does speak to men and God did call Joseph Smith to be his prophet and Joseph Smith did help to restore that Gospel of Jesus Christ back to the earth and through the gospel, I can be forgiven of my mistakes and feel peace in my life and I can be with my family for eternity!!! what greater happiness is there? I LOVE this gospel!!!!!

     This was another GREAT week! We had Zone Conference! I LOVE ZONE CONFERENCE!!! This was such an answer to both mine and sister Hamilton's  prayers this week. We have been struggling with companionship unity amongst the sisters in our zones and we were at a loss of how best to bring it up and talk to some of the companionships about it... so we tried several things we sent out mass voice mails with spiritual thoughts about unity and serving your companions... and we try to show the sisters how much sister Hamilton and I love and respect each other, and how we work together, when we are around the sisters... fortunately sister Hamilton and I really do love and respect each other so it's not something we have to work very hard at... but we had tried everything and we were still having problems with some of the companionships not getting along... and in zone conference that assistants to the president gave wonderful training on charity and loving and serving your companion!! and knowing that all the zones had heard the same training, really brought peace to our hearts!

     We taught Davis (the boy form last week that walked into the church on Sunday) The lesson was AWESOME!! of course we can't take full credit for it... we are only the messengers, but the spirit was so strong and I know that Davis felt it! Sister Hamilton and I taught with such power and unity, we were in a members home and the members made comments and shared their testimonies... everything was text book (preach my gospel) perfect! I couldn't have asked for a better experience! we got a return appointment with him for 2 days later! By this time sister Hamilton and I are ecstatic another golden investigator has found us!!  The next day wasn't so happy though... I was in our area while sister Hamilton was in another area on exchange and Davis txts us and tells us that his mom won't let him meet with us anymore... what a punch to the gut. I hate that even after all that we do to cultivate an environment where the spirit can be felt and we know that the investigator feels the spirit...that agency still plays it's part ... and it is heartbreaking to see them turn away and their family resist!! I can't explain how it feel to be dropped like that, but it's not a fun experience. I just imagine how heavenly father must feel when we make our own choices based on what  we think is best and the influences of others... it must really hurt him to see us do this, after all that he does to help us make the right choice.

    I am learning so much out here and I LOVE it I never saw myself as a missionary, but I am so glad that I followed the prompting to come on a mission I will never regret this decision and I will never be the same having done it...I am so grateful for my savior and the enabling and transforming power of his great atonement. because I literally could not have done this with out him taking my weaknesses and transforming them into strengths thus enabling me to be the instrument that he needs to gather his children... but an interesting thing about the Lord, when he uses his children for his purposes, he makes them better people through the process... it is so fascinating to me and I know we have a loving God!
I wish I could share perfectly the excitement and joy and wonder I feel from the things I have learned... but till I can see y'all and share my stories in person, my inadequate words will have to do.

I hope y'all have a great week and can recognize the miracles in your day to day!

I love y'all... until next time,

LOVE

Sister Dannika Nielsen

I Am Having the Time of My Life Serving my Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ!

Good morning Family! 

Hope yall are had a great week last week! i Sure did! I have also never been more tired. last week was a good one, we worked our little missionary tails off and we saw some great miracles because of it! It felt so good! I do truly know why missionaries are told to work work work and loose ourselves in it, because it is when we do that, that we truly see miracles! 

I hope yall are still reading along with me! ive really enjoyed it! This morning i read in Jacob 1. so we are out of nephi. look at the progress we are making! isn't this fun! 

Something i just loved that i read this week, was in 2nephi 31. Nephi has just finished telling us what the gosple of Jesus Chirst is... Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Repentance, Baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the End... and in :21 he says "and now, Behold, My beloved bretheren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God..." Nephi tells us right there in plain text, easy to understand... THIS IS THE WAY... if a man/woman wants to get closer to God and recieve a place in his kingdom... then it is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we can do that... I just marvled at how blessed we are to have such a simple and plain doctrine.... here it is, no hidden messages, no fine print, this is it.! Heavenly Father isn't trying to make us guess what he wants from us and what we need to do to return to live with him, he just gives it to us... why? because he loves us... he wants us to have the greatest chances for success in this life. Now once we know what Father requires of us... we must apply it... which is the hard part, we stumble and fall and have to get back up again, but Father has so lovingly provided The Savior so it is possible for us to continue enduring... How great is the Fathers plan! I just love the Book of Mormon, it just lays things out so plainly... because it is pure and nothing has been added changed or taken from it... how blessed are we! I hope yall will continue reading with me and sharing your insights on the scriptures! 

So some highlights from my week: we went on 2 more exchanges this week with some sisters in our zones... we are slowly gaining the trust of our sisters and we are able to help them work through some of their problems. I am always amazed at how much we can do with love... love can accomplish great things... the sisters have a greater desire to work hard and love each other because we show love to them... and to each other as a companionship... ive learned the value and importance of service, for those around us, but also and sometimes more importantly our companions... as we love and serve our companions we work together in better unity and the work goes much more smoothly... and it's just plain fun! Sister Hamilton and i are having so much fun together... she is so incredible, i learn so much from her! But being able to serve these sisters ive learned so much for myself... i love how that happens! 

   

I don't know if this is a highlight, cuz it absoutely broke my heart, but we taught one of our newest investigators that was a referral from the stake president. she is a widow of 6 years and when we went to teach her, she just flat out told us that she didn't believe what we did and that she didn't believe that there was a god because if there was, he wouldn't have taken her husband and she believes that the only way that she can ever be happy is if she has her husband back... she said if god can do anything.. then he can bring my husband back.... we could do nothing but bare sincere testimony that we knew that the gospel was true and that we knew that peace and joy could be found in the knowledge that she can see her husband again... she asked us how we knew that and we told her that we too have gone through things in our lives that have required us to put to the test our knowledge of a loving God and our Savior Jesus Christ... we haven't lost a spouse, but we have lost people close to us, or delt with problems much bigger than us and we have had to rely on the Savior and it is this that has brought peace... this lesson was very uncomfortable... there was alot of long and at times awkward pauses as my companion and i had to think about our responces to her questions... and the whole time i am thnking... "we are promised that we won't be confounded before men if we are doing the right things and being obedient... why is this happening!!" But now as i think back on the whole situation, we were not confounded, the spirit was there the entire time and we were able to share things with her that i truly believe she needed to hear... and by the end she was becoming less and less argumentitive and angry and she was calm.... she is still very bitter and hurt my what happened... and i can't say that i completely blame her... but we want to give her a way to be rid of all that anger and hurt and embrace the life of joy that the savior wants to give her. She agreed to have us back... she said "you won't change my mind but you can come back if you want"... i think that is a cry for help... she is lonely and wants someone to talk to... so she isn't turning us away... we can work with that... we will just serve her and show her love.

We began teaching this really neat young woman, she is the bast friend of a member in the ward... she is so incredibley mature... she askes the greatest questions and she said that she will have no problem being baptized once she finds out that it's true for herself.... and once she does she said that she whats to be baptized as soon as possible! How wonderful is that...! i am really excited to work with her! 

Yesterday, we were sitting in Gospel Principles and about half way through, a brother from the ward walks in with a young man and sists down... we imedietly identified him as a visitor since neither of us had recognized him. after the lesson, the brother introduces the young man and the class members on their way out all wecome him. Sister Hamilton and i introduced ourselves as the missionaries and he said he has always wanted to be a missionary... we talked with him a bit and introduced the Book of Mormon to him and we found out that he was actually on his way to a friends house when he saw the church and he decided to walk in and see what it was all about... he wants to learn more and he gave us his info and took a book of mormon and then the brother he walked in with invited him to stay for priesthood so he did.. and then after that, one of the members offered him a rid home... it was amazing to see the ward just step up and make this young man feel so welcome! We are going to begin teaching him this week!! WOW! ive never seen anything like thins happen.. ive only heard stories... but it ALWAYS seems that those that god prepares, find us... i was just so thankful that heavenly father let us see such a great miracle!  

well family, i love yall so much and i want you all to know how much i love this gospel! It has changed me! I LOVE my Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ! and i am having the time of my live serving them both!

i love you all

LOVE  
Sister Dannika Nielsen

What a great week! We can be the vehicles where by miracles can be preformed

What an exhausting week! We worked hard this week and it felt so good! i fell into bed last night with delightful exhaustion! What a great week!

We started exchanges last week... we go on two a week... Tuesday-Wednesday and Friday-Saturday... sister Hamilton and i hardly see each other it seems. Last Monday night we invited one of our investigators to be baptized... he said no.... which we were totally expecting, but now we know why he doesn't want to be baptized, he wants to make an educated decision before he jumps in to it... which is perfect because the last thing we want to do is have someone baptized that isn't ready! as funny as it might seem, it is a blessing when people tell us "no" when we invite them to do things because they usually will follow up with what their concerns are... and then we can really begin to help them! Tuesday was zone meeting and sister Hamilton and i gave a training. and then after the meeting we exchanged with the roswell sisters. (sister merback is training there and she says HI!!) I came back to johns creek with sister painter and we taught some of our investigators... it was so much fun and sister painter in already a phenomenal missionary and she has only been out three weeks! wow the new missionaries just get better and better each transfer! I learned so much from sister painter! this calling is great, because i get to learn so many different ways of doing things... i really feel like the lucky one here.

Sister Wolfert came to our apartment on Wednesday and told us what all our calling really requires of us... that was nice to be able to finally get some clarification on what exactly we are to be doing. Sister Wolfert is the greatest mission mom ever she really has a genuine care and concern for all the sisters and elders in the mission. I have come to LOVE her so much! 

We had a few fun experiences this week... so last Saturday, we were tracting and we knocked on a door... the man who answered very warmly says "well come on in!!"... he then must have seen the surprised look on both mine and sister hamilton's faces because he then looked at us and said "you aren't here for the party are you?" we admitted that we weren't, and then proceeded to tell him our purpose for being there we told him that we were representatives of Christ... he told us that the party was actually an atheist meeting he then said "ladies you should leave because if i invited you in i don't think it would end well" we thanked him for his time and left... ha ha an atheist party ha ha funniest thing ever. sister hamilton and i had a good laugh with that Then on Wednesday we were tracting again and we had gone to a neighborhood that i had found while on exchange that i really wanted to do some work in.. so the first person we walked up to was loading a construction truck, he was really friendly untill he found out that we were Mormons... ha ha then the real fun started... lol He told us that he didn't think that a church that just rose up out of nowhere in the 1800's had any right to try and change all of Christianity which has been around for thousands of years he then said something about how we didn't believe in the real Jesus Christ and he then told us that we needed to read the bible and make sure we are worshiping the real Christ and then we needed to...are you ready for this... "repent from our Mormonism"... i had to try so hard to keep from laughing at him... i controlled myself, we asked him if we could say a prayer with him and his family and he said "absolutely not!" he continued... and said... "i am going to go pray that you don't go preaching your Mormonism to my neighbors... i don't want them to get sucked in" By this point it is taking all that i have to not laugh... we thanked him for his opinion and told him that we respected his beliefs and we walked on... we didn't really tell him anything because it would have only turned into a bash... which was obviously what he was looking for... so we just went on our way... and went to his neighbors house.. to indoctrinate them with our "evil Mormonism" Ha Ha when we got out of ear shot we both lost it and just laughed! i couldn't believe that just happened! We didn't get his name so we called him Bart the Bashing Builder Ha Ha!! what a good man he was though... he was very passionate about his own religion and Jesus Christ... but most defiantly not open to the restored Gospel... I find it interesting that even people who really do hate us and want nothing but to tell us how wrong we are... that i can still walk away laughing, but thinking how much their heavenly father loves them, and i walk away with a portion of love for them and can still find ways to admire them. I still feel saddened that they don't want to take a chance on something that will make them and their families beyond happy! 

Thursday night was a night of miracles... we had been telling the sisters in our zones to pray for, expect and look for miracles and then to report them to us! and we had heard some pretty neat miracles, but we had also been doing the same thing praying for and looking for miracles and Thursday night we were able to see a pretty neat one! We had found a man a couple of weeks ago and we stopped in to check up on him to see how he was doing... when we got there his entire family was there... and instead of turning us away because his family was there he invited us in to meet his family and he sat us down and they all asked us questions about the church... they were in and out of the conversation because they were having a family BBQ but they would come in and ask and converse then leave again... but Danny the man we met, he stayed in the room the whole time and talked with us... he asked us to read him something fro the bible and he pointed to our books (book of Mormon) so we used that as an opportunity to introduce him to the book of Mormon... we told him about it and then read Moroni"s promise with him and when we read it wa asked him what he thought it meant.. and he told us that he knew God was telling him that he needed to read it and pray about it and that if he asked and really wanted to know... then god would answer him.... we also read my favorite scripture with him Helaman 5:12 and he comprehended it so well i was so impressed with his ability to comprehend... he said he would like to come to church and that he wanted us to come and teach him more! WOW what an incredible guy... he is great! i know that he has a desire to change because he talks often about wanting to better his life and turn a new page and be right with god... i know he can, he just doesn't know where to look! I really hope that we get to teach him more.. i really hope that this is the will of the father at this time... Danny is such a great man and i know that he can become greater once he realizes his potential as a son of god and can unlock that potential by using the power of the atonement to it's fullest! Gosh i love this work!

Friday took me back to lilburn!! yay we had an exchange with the lilburn sisters and both sister hamilton and i felt that the new sister needed an opportunity to take over the area and since sister Cefalo and i had already been companions, i got to go be with sister allred in lilburn! I had fun back in my old area and i learned so much from sister allred and she too is incredible! We had dinner with my favorite family the Hydes! I am really excited for yall to meet them... if we come back for a family vacation we have to see them! 

Saturday was great... we decided that we were going to use a scripture in our contacting that day and so we had 10 people we had to talk and so we said we would use the scripture with at least 4 of them! it made contacting so much more fun! oh and we also met a lady who no longer considered herself a christian... we asked her what religion she was and she kinda got a crazy look in her eye and then in her high pitch voice she says " I'm a witch!!" and closes the door.... Ha ha man i love all the interesting people we meet every day! this is the greatest! 

Sunday was the best i don't think i have ever felt the spirit more strongly in a sacrament meeting on my mission until yesterday... we just had two sisters return home from their mission and they both spoke and they spoke with such power and such conviction the chapel was filled with the most warm and comforting feeling... it was such a powerful sacrament meeting... there is no doubt that those sisters were powerful missionaries and touched many lives where they served! 

Well Family, i hope Yall are still reading with me! I have loved reading the book of Mormon over and over. but this time is really special... this time will be one that i will never forget. Everyday i find a new reason to love the book of Mormon... this book has changed my life and i hope that yall are letting it change yours. I can see such a huge difference in myself from the beginning of my mission to now and i attribute it all to this Gospel! I KNOW that my Savior lives and the he paid the price of my human imperfections in full and i KNOW that our Heavenly Father is a kind, loving and forgiving Father, he gives us chance after chance to change and follow him he will not give up on us, he loves us! I KNOW that Christ's gospel was restored back to the earth with the help of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I KNOW that our Heavenly Father works through us to accomplish his great purposes... we can be the vehicles where by miracles can be preformed, i have seen many times on my mission where the Lord has truly used me as an instrument to help his children find their way in this life, me, he has used weak and shy and insignificant me... to bring about his greatest work "the immortality and eternal life of man" i get to take part in this work and what an honor it is to do so. To wear my Saviors name and represent him has been one of the most fulfilling and rewarding works i have ever done in my life! Of all the people i have helped to bring closer to their savior, there will always be one convert that will be forever grateful that i served a mission... and that convert is me! I can't imagine my life with out having served a mission.

Words will never explain my joy and Grattitude for this gospel and the opportunity Ive had to share it!

Well family i hope yall have a great week ill talk to you soon

love
Sister Dannika Nielsen

OH MY WHAT! So this week was a crazy one!

we were late for district meeting on tuesday, but we got a new investigator because of it! so that's a plus! my new district is great!

after district meeting we went and tracted some more and found another new investigator! woo hoo! then we exchanged with the woodstock sisters... they are the STL's for the marrietta zone and so they helped us to learn the ropes of our new position! fter the exchange sister hamilton and i worked on putting together an exchange calendar for both roswell zone and lilburn zone... we are over both... i don't know if i told yall that... but we cover two zones for now. we are lucky anymore to be in bed early... we now work right up till 10:30 with figuring out plans for exchanges and calling our sisters and making sure they know who we are and tht we are there to help.. it also helps us to assess who needs exchanges sooner or later... we are also in almost coconstant contact with our zone leaders and the lilburn zone leaders and various district leaders to make sure we can get all the needs of the sisters.. it's exhausting... when 10:30 rolls around i am beat and beyond ready for bed.  6:30 comes WAY to early... but then we start all over again... this is fun work, but it is exhausting in every possible way! Thursday and Friday we spent over 12 hours in meetings.. they were awesome meetings the spirit was great and i felt totally pumped to take on missionary work! but feeling the spirit so strongly doesn't come without a price... by the end of each meeting i was exhausted. after the meeting on Thursday we took one of the STL's from athens zone back to our apartment with us and her comp went with the woodstock STLs so they wouldn't have to drive all the way back to their place, just to turn around and come back the next day for Friday's meeting, because our apartment is literally on the other side of the freeway from where i was in lilburn... but sister Wardel (athens STL) came with us and we went and taught one of our part member families.... and i was amazed at how well we all taught together... we blended so perfectly and the spirit was incredibly strong... i know that the family felt it! The stake president was there with us and after the lesson he walked out of their house and said "WOW, that was a great lesson, you sisters are the greatest teachers!" we told him that it wasn't us, it was the spirit... she said that may be true, but the lord needs awesome missionaries to teach his Gospel... and you three are AWESOME missionaries!"

That was so kind of him to say! we left the appointment and we still had about half an hour before we could go home so we knocked some doors... not a ton of luck, but it's all about being obedient... finally we went home and i was beat! I gave sister wardel my bed and i made a bed on the floor and i don't think i layed down for more than 2 minutes before i was asleep.... we had to be up early the next day...1 bathroom and 3 girls... all having to be ready by 8:00am for leadership training meeting the next morning... Morning cam way to fast... but we had a great day of meetings ahead of us... Sister Hamilton and i had to give a 45 minute training... you would think that after almost a year of giving trainings and talking in front of people that I'd be used to it....NOPE... it still scares the living day lights out of me.

Elder Giddens of the 70 came and spoke to us! It was great the spirit was high again, and again i left absolutely exhausted...

The rest of the week was spent weekly planning and planning exchange details and day to day missionary work... I've been tired on my mission, but this calling is taking it to a whole new level.... i am tired tired tired... but i never cease to be amazed at the miracles that happen as i am obedient and i LOVE being obedient... it truly does bring happiness!

I welcomed P-Day this morning... a time to relax and take it easy for a few hours... ha ha but we have a lesson with a potential at 3:00 today... :) We can sacrifice one hour... Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven! :)

well family, how is our reading going? This week was actually kinda rough for me... i had to play some catch up... with all the meetings we had this week, we didn't have time to study in the morning... but i am all caught up and still reading through the Isaiah chapters.We are almost through them though... so hang in there... Family i have so enjoyed reading the Book of Mormon through with yall! This has been so much fun to do i hope that you are loving it too! i love yall so much! Well we are fixin to go play some killer bunnies with our district so ill let yall go 

Talk to you soon!

Love ya bye

Sister Dannika Nielsen

Transfered to JOHNS CREEK, GA & Now the Sister Training Leader

Hi Family! This week has been a bit crazy so lets start with Monday... Monday morning study was great stress level was normal but ill say it was at about a 2 because excitement for transfer calls... then i found out that president wanted me to be a sister training leader in roswell with sister hamilton as my comp... stress level is now at a 5...  we spent the rest of the day emailing cleaning and i packed... yay! Tuesday was bitter sweet.. today i said my good byes to the people whom i have grown to love. But i was able to bare testimony to each of them of Christ and so the spirit was with us all day long... i was able to commit one of our less active members who absolutely refuses to step foot into a church building to come for my farewell fireside in February... long way out i know, but she said she would come and see me off then... thus stepping foot inside a church building.... plus i KNOW that she won't be able to leave that building without feeling the spirit. so that will be great for her! I was able to get a priesthood blessing from the bishop which helped to calm my nerves and give me some comfort and counsel from my Heavenly Father! I needed that! i love that heavenly father allows worthy men to hold and use this power.. it truly is a blessing in my life! i know my Heavenly Father loves me because he allows for his priesthood to be here on the earth today! by now my Stress Level is a 3! Wednesday... TRANSFER DAY... dun dun dun... i was surprisingly calm, sister hamilton showed up at the church building at about 8:30 we said good bye to our comps and headed out for johns creek. the apartment is super cute and the nicest apartment ive lived in so far... the ward sounds amazing and so missionary minded! we taught met a less active man, he was the first person i met here in johns creek... and he is great, he is retired, but his wife works so he is at home all day by himself and he gets lonely so we talked with him. he is an old rancher and LOVES to deer hunt! he told us all kinds of stories! He is very familiar with Idaho cuz that is where he likes to hunt! I liked having someone to talk to about home! He invited us back on Saturday to help him paint his house! then we went and taught some of "our"now progressing investigators and i found out just how amazing sister hamilton is and figured out what all i lack!  Then the rest of the week has defiantly been humbling. i've felt like ive taken a step back about 7 months and im back to that scared little missionary that struggled through her days. My companion is amazing she is such a great teacher and even though i am technically the "senior" companion i still feel far far inferior to her... it's been a struggle. I ve found myself wondering if ive even learned anything from the past 10 months... my faith is defiantly being tried and Satan is there at every turn to capitalize on my insecurities. Ive defiantly spent a few nights crying myself to sleep. but finally i told heavenly father that i refused to go back to the place that i was in, in the first three months of my mission. I am not going to go back there. i can't go back there. if i do, what i've learned would all be for nothing! So i have taken the things i have learned from that struggle and i have tried earnestly to apply them to this situation... i find myself doing a lot of positive self talk and also just praying silently to my Father to get me through this struggle. ive had to really be patient with myself, this is certainly hard to do, but if ive learned anything, i've learned that it is not impossible. Ive learned that faith is Christ will get us through anything! ive spent the last 10 months telling and testifying of this to people in suwanee and lilburn and now i am again having to put it to the test her in Johns Creek! My stress level from Wednesday to now has been far above a 10... and we haven't even started our duties as STLs... if i don't die because of this it will be a miracle! ha ha!  Oh and we also found out that not only are we over the Roswell zone, but we also take in the lilburn zone too... that is 16 sisters we take care of, teach and train... oh boy... im pretty sure the Lord has called me here to be the one to get trained, because i hardly feel like i can help these sisters... they are already so amazing.. they will probably train me! in fact, i know they will train me! i really am the lucky one... i get to learn form all these great sisters!

Well family, how is the reading going? i know it's alot of Isaiah chapters and they are hard to make any sense of... well at least they are for me... yall my not have problems with them... but what i like to do is pick out little bits and pieces that stick out to me... like this morning for instance... in 2 nephi 13 i only highlighted a few verses :10 "Say unto the righteous that it will be well with them; for they will eat the fruit of their doing" The reward for the righteous will be sweet , but the reward for the wicked will be bitter... i don't know about yall, but if i have to eat the fruit of my works... i want it to taste good....

:13 and 14 This is what i got out of it. this is just my opinion...  i loved it because it talks of how christ will judge us... but first he pleads for us and then he joins with the prophets and apostles, bishops and stake presidents etc. all the judges in israel to judge us... we will have panel of judges so to speak to help plead our cause, not people who don't know us, but people we have worked with and who love us... we have such a loving Heavenly Father who wants to give us all the possible chances for success that he can... ive learned a bit about the way heavenly father loves us as i have pondered and thought about the kind of STL i want to be... Heavenly Father loves us perfectly and he never does anything to benefit himself... everything he does is for the benefit of his children... and that is what i want to emulate as i interact with these sisters... i want to help them love their missions as much as i love mine, i want to help them strengthen their testimonies in their savior i want to help them experience the powers of the atonement for themselves... i want to love them like i know that my Father in Heaven loves me... i really am excited for this opportunity to serve these sisters... but that only makes me stress out more... because i want to be the best STL that Heavenly Father wants to make me!     

Keep reading the book of mormon... i know it will help to strengthen you as you struggle with things in your life. the scriptures hold the answers to our prayers and will help us strengthen our faith Jacob 4:6. If you want to speak with your heavenly father... pray... if you want heavenly father to speak to you... read your scriptures... i know this is true... God does speak to his children through his holy scriptures.. i have found this to be true here on my mission. am i the best at applying it...no, but i know it's true and i know that through the atonement of my savior Jesus Christ, i can be cleansed and perfected... i love this Gospel and i love my savior. well family, wish me luck this week. i love you all

love
Sister Dannika Nielsen