The weather im sure your heard was crazy this week...

The weather im sure your heard was crazy this week... we were told to stay in our apartment for 2 days while the winter storm passed... we didn't get trapped in our car for 20 hours like alot of the Georgians trying to make it home from work.... the rest of the week was pretty much me getting over what ever i have caught... ive been sick for the past week... yuck.

nothing to great to report... i hope you are having a good week... i'm sure you are busy due to the fact that i didn't get an email from anyone (but i guess you'll just see me in two weeks so what's the point right?)... hope all is well 

talk to you soon

bye
Sister Dannika Nielsen

It really hurts my heart to think about leaving the people that have touched my life here.

Well.... i am sitting here staring at the computer  and this email isn't writing itself.... but i don't really have much to say... this week was pretty much normal no real fun stories to tell this week. 

We are still working with our 9 year old investigator. he is so much fun. I just love him. The other night, we were over at his house for dinner and then had a lesson afterwards... the lesson was just the baptismal interview questions, so it went pretty quick, then when we finished, he said... " i made a game, do you want to play it with me?" so he brings out this little board game that he drew on a piece of paper... he said "i made one like yours." it was the cutest thing ever! so we played it with him. 

It really hurts my heart to think about leaving the people that have touched my life here. We had stake conference this last weekend and i was able to see all the families form the Lilburn ward... i loved getting to see them again, but it was so sad to think that i will soon be saying good bye to them.

There is a song that talks about missionaries being torn when they leave their mission... and that is the perfect was to describe it... i love my family, and i am excited to see them, but i also love the people here and i don't want to leave them.

Well family i hope yall have a good week ill talk to yall later

LOVE ya!       

--
Sister Dannika Nielsen

I have so benefited from the testimonies and faith of so many faithful people here in the south

Well this week was transfer week, so I have a new companion her name is sister haderlie! she is great, she is from San Diego! this is gonna be a great transfer!

I have so much to tell yall this week... some you wont believe and some that wont be so hard to believe! ha ha

Monday started our week, we weren't expecting for sister Snyder or I to be getting transfer calls one because this is my last transfer and two, sister Snyder just finished being trained... but we were surprised with a transfer call! Sister Snyder found out that she was going to sugar hill. sad days :( we had so much fun together! but such is mission life! 

Tuesday came and we had zone meeting... we were kinda bummed that we had an appointment right after the meeting so we weren't able to go to lunch with the other missionaries :( but what happened after our appointment you will never believe.

So we decide to go to lunch since we didn't get to go with the others. we went to this place that our ward mission leader suggested.. super great! anyway, we are getting out food, and I make eye contact with this very nice black gentleman, so I say 

"hi how is your day" he says hi back and we continue getting our food, then we bump into him again and he asks about our tags. so I introduced ourselves as missionaries and told him that we share a wonderful message about Jesus Christ and ask if he wanted to learn more... and he said "yeah, do you have room at your table??" In my mind im freaking out thinking is this really happening... are we about to eat lunch with this man? OH MY WHAT!! 

But, being the "dignified" sister missionary that I am, I reply calmly..."of course come on over."

we ate lunch with a complete stranger and taught him about the restoration.... then we sat and talked about god and Bob talked about his faith in god, it was really a great conversation he has really great faith, he is such a wonderful person. That was totally meant to happen had we not had that appointment, we would have gone to lunch with the other missionaries and therefore not need to have lunch then... and we would have never met bob! how amazing is that! there are no such things as coincidences in this work. the lord has his hands in all  things! We were able to get his info so we could set up a time to visit him again and hopefully begin teaching him... the lord needed us to meet this man so he used the appointment after the meeting as a way to make that happen. 

I LOVE the south! Most People are so willing to talk about their religion and about God and Christ. I Doubt that would ever happen in the west... people are so closed off about their testimonies and about their faith... which is so sad, because I have so benefited from the testimonies and faith of so many faithful people here in the south... and most of them haven't been members of the church! Our testimonies and faith are meant to be shared, that is how they grow! I have really come to learn that as a missionary. We are not sent here merely to learn on our own, but to learn from one another as well.

Wednesday brought transfers, I lost sister Snyder, but gained Sister Haderlie! and she is great, I am enjoying our time together so far. We went and visited with two of our investigators that night and put them both on date for the first of February...! yay! Hopefully we can help them stay on track for that date!

Thursday we put our 9 year old investigator on date for the 8th of February. we are in the middle of teaching him the commandments and I have made up a game to help teach him the commandments... when I brought out the game, he got SO excited! I was so happy to see that! i really wanted something that would grab his attention and keep it... and my board game did EXACTALLY that! I can't take all the credit though.... the spirit had a lot to do with the idea! :)

Friday we weekly planned and tracted and got rudely warned by one lady that the neighborhood was a "no soliciting" neighborhood (good thing we aren't soliciting)  and that we probably wouldn't have any luck because people were at work. I asked her if she had the day off and if that was why she was home and she rudely said "no, i don't have a job and unless you want to find me a job, im not interested." so i asked what kind of work she did and told her that our church has employment specialists that might be able to help her put her resume out to find a job. she wasn't very nice when she said "no cuz then you would just want me to join your church and im catholic and not interested" so i just told her "well actually ma'am we believe in helping all of gods children regardless of their faith"  She didn't have much to say after that. It makes me laugh when rude people don't have anything to say back because you are just being kind. We did find a new investigator in that neighborhood though! :) then we were kicked out by a grumpy man who threatened to call the cops on us for soliciting... i politely told him we would leave... ehhh some people.... i wonder why he was so grumpy, something must not be going right in his life! So sad.

Saturday we tracted some more and we walked into a large group of young black men... upon walking up to them one acted like he didn't speak English while the others quickly hid in the garage, we have that effect on people... ha ha kinda funny! anyway, thinking his attempted "i no speak English" would get us to just keep walking... i looked at him and said "oh, Well what language do you speak?" that shut him up pretty quick and he tried to say it again and i just called him out right there I just said "you are lyin to me." Laughing, he admitted that he was... and then we were able to talk to him about the church... this only led to him beginning to hit on us... so we quickly invited him to visit Mormon.org and walked away.... haha... i just love meeting so many different people... it's great... ha ha!

anyway, that is what my week consisted of... pretty great! makes you want to be a missionary doesn't it! :) well i sure love it! so many memories!

well family, i hope yall are still reading along with me! We are almost done, can you believe it! and it didn't even take us that long at all!

well i hope yall have a great week ill talk to yall later

LOVE
Sister Dannika Nielsen

I Must Say!!!!

I have to admit, i am getting a little excited for Dannika to come home, but i tear up every time i think that these letters will someday come to an end. I have watched a very scared young woman go out into the mission field afraid to talk to people, and i have watched and read as she has blossomed and been able to have promises fulfilled that if she would just open her mouth, the Lord would put what needed to be said there. Time and Time again, she has professed of the reality of this promise being fulfilled.
I am going to miss the missionary letters. I really had torn feelings in the beginning when i saw her struggle with fear, anxiety and depression. I cant count the times when i wanted to fly to Georgia and save her....But She didn't need my Saving....She needed to trust in the lord and learn that he loved her for the sacrifice she was giving, and he helped her to not only find words, but to be an awesome missionary. He helped her to see that we don't all have to think or believe the same....the Lord loves us all. And I can venture to say, she has grown in ways that she never would have, if she would have stayed home.....
WE are so thankful for the missionary letters home, and re excited to have her home and moving on with her next step in life.....

Service is such a wonderful thing!

So this week was pretty good, we tracted a lot it seemed but we met a wonderful lady! So we start tracting this street and nothing to promising, and id was close to dinner and it would have seen so easy to just stop and drive to dinner and be on time, but I had a thought "just one more" so I turned to may comp and said "lets knock this last door and then we will leave for dinner" so we did and I am so glad we did. 

We met Michelle and when she opened the door she was surprised to see us, because , she later told us that he dad had passed about six months earlier and then one of her clients that she does home care for passed just recently too, and it has really been hard on her and she has been struggling! She said that she was just praying for a message of peace and then we knocked on her door. we told her about the book of mormon and she became excited and said that she would love to read it but she didn't have money to buy it from us. she became even more excited when we told her that it was free. she opened the storm door and said well then ill take it thank you so much! 

I was so glad that we followed that prompting, we were a little late to dinner, but that is not nearly as important as us being able to be the means by which heavenly father reached out to a beloved daughter to show her that he is mindful of her needs and that he cares! it was so wonderful to be there! 

Then later last week we got a call from the sisters in the Johns Creek ward where i was last serving. and they said that a family from that ward had a service opportunity for us. their daughters mother in law who lives in lawrenceville was getting ready to go through chemo and she needed to have some help disinfecting everything... so we coordinated with the family and were able to meet them and help this wonderful woman. She isn't a member of the church, but when she called to talk to sister beckstrand in form the ward, she said, i know im not a member of your church, but i have seen the way that yall help eachother out and i was wondering if you would be able to find someone to help me... sister beckstrand immediately thought of the missionaries! 

So after we helped her out on Saturday evening i asked if we could share a message... she agreed and so i read mosiah 18:8-10 and talked about how when we as members are baptized we covenant to serve our fellow men and that we take this covenant very seriously and then i thanked her for allowing us an opportunity to serve! and she began to cry and then she said, im not even a member of your church, but you still came to help me. she was so grateful for our help. it felt so good to be there helping her. I just love that God is no respecter of persons. Just because she isn't a member of our church doesn't mean that god loves her any less, and isn't willing to help her. He loves all his children and wants to help them any way that he can. I am so grateful for the service that i was able to offer, and for the opportunity i had to keep my covenant to serve those in need. this wonderful woman really did me a favor, by being humble enough to ask for help! what a wonderful thing!

Well family, i hop that yall are having a good week and that yall are still in the book of mormon with me! 

I love yall 

Love      
Sister Dannika Nielsen

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