The Lord is merciful....

AHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Wow this week has been amazing!

   Ill start by telling you how much i love you all and telling you that i know that this gospel is true and that testimony is only strengthened EVERYDAY as i get to watch the Lord perform miracles in the lives of people that i have come to love out here!

So we are teaching this really elect family that we found while we were contacting... we have taught them the first 2 lessons and they are loving it, and we have become pretty close to them. The wife has all these awesome questions and she is so inquisitive and just cant learn enough. She says that everything that we teach her makes sense and the husband is loving it and loves all that we teach as well. his dad was a minister for a church and he said that his dad had preached a lot of the same things, but he welcomes the differences. they are so awesome!

   Then we are teaching a single mother of 3 and she is great! our first lesson with her we talked about the holy ghost and she loved it! we go back tomorrow and teach the restoration we are so excited to teach her because she is just so sweet and she recognizes that she is searching for truth... she is visiting with the Jehovah's Witnesses too... yikes... but we don't let that get to us because we know that what we have is TRUE and that with her sincerity, she WILL find the truth of our teachings.

ok... so now for the crowing event of the week.... are you ready! :)

   So last sunday the 20th, we met with Sam our 19 year old investigator, and before this we had prayed and prayed to know of a date that woe should have in mind for her to be baptized, and we both felt impressed to invited her to be baptized on Feb 2nd... So last week we had a lesson with her and it was very powerful, the spirit was undeniable. we are counseld to extend invitations when the spirit is the strongest... so.... at that point, i took a deep breath and prayed and asked to be stopped if it was not right, then i went for it, i invited her to be baptized on the 2nd of feb. and my comp backed me up and it cam together beautifully... and Sam freaked out a little bit, but said that she wouldn't agree to the date, but she would at least think about it.... after the lesson i was a bit discouraged because i didn't know if it was right to have asked her... but my comp said that she had recieved confirmation that it was, as soon as the date crossed my lips... so now it was up to me to try to receive my own confirmation about this. So of course, i wouldn't be me if i hadn't had every possible doubt and discouragement cross my mind, so i spent the rest of the week thinking and praying and doubting and fretting about what i had invited.... finally i had just asked heavenly father to give me peace of mind about the lesson... then, Sunday came, (last night) and we had another lesson with Sam and not only did my heavenly father put my mind at ease, but he let me watch as he worked a miracle right before my eyes....

   We opened the lesson with a prayer, and then asked Sam about her week and what she had thought about in regards to the invitation that we left her.... and she was like oh... you mean you want to know if i want to get baptized.... and we said, yes... and then she said... "YES, i want to be baptized on the 2nd of february!" If i had been standing, i would have fell over, i was hoping that she would suprise us like that, but i had not gotten my hopes up because i didn't want them to come crashing down.... so when she said yes, i started to cry and i was completely speechless! it took me a good 5 minutes to come up with things to say, because i was completely blown away! I had prayed for a simple conformation such as peace of mind, and Heavenly Father went above and beyond that and gave me a great miracle! He always blesses me above that which i ask for. We as humans ask for what we think seems a huge miracle and then a loving Father goes way beyond our wildest dreams and gives us more than we ever expect!

   I am humbled to be so blessed by heavenly father. I am loving the work, there is discouragement, yes, but there are always tender mercies mixed in with those discouragements. I know that if we could see the eternal perspective that Heavenly Father sees... we would shrink at it's complexities and its vastness....this gospel is truly amazing, and i LOVE being a missionary

   Family, i love you SO much and i hope all is well with Y'all. Thank you for all your love and support and for providing me with this experience that will shape the rest of my life! I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior and i lean and rely on them everyday, every hour of every day! They will NEVER fail me and i know this because it is in them that i trust!

   Thank you for sending pics of Kyndras wedding it was so good to see them! i hop you are all well and healthy!

Love you so much

Love Sister Nielsen.

First Transfer

Dannika Sent her very first trainer home last week. WE knew that the week would be hard for her. she has had a hard time lately. But We know the lord is mindful of her and her situation...he keeps proving it with his tender mercies....Dannika still is holding on and going forward. She is such an example to us all....

Hi Family,

   Well i didn't die last week at transfer time, but it was really hard. I've made it almost one week... but honestly i had nothing to do with it. i know my Heavenly Father has carried me through all of it, and He will continue to carry me until i can feel confident enough to walk on my own beside him. And then just about that time, ill have another struggle I'm sure. We are constantly relying on the Lord, that is something i am learning to do very well. I realize that i can not do this work alone... this is the Lords work and we have to let him lead it. 

   So my new comp's name is Sister Worthington she is from colorado springs. she is very sweet, we get along well and we teach very well together. She has been out for about 9 months. I like her. 

   I have seen some pretty awesome things this week. I finally got a hold of the Australian lady that i contacted in the park a few months back... we are going over to see her on wednesday. so that is pretty exciting! The Lavoie family is still doing AWESOME. I love them so much. we went to their house on thursday and taught the restoration again with their home teachers, it was pretty powerful. James shared his testimony about the spirit. It is times like that and lessons like that, where i am so happy to be here. i get to watch people come closer to their Heavenly Father, i get to watch as they change their lives and become happier than they were before, i get to watch as their testimony of  their savior grows and they become closer to him... this is the most joyful feeling i have ever felt thus far in my life! 

   Saturday was a pretty awesome day too... about 2 1/2 months S. berrett and i contacted into this man who let is into his home and we taught a 1st (lesson) and he told us that we could come back in like three months... well saturday we were walking down his street and he happened to come out of his house right as we were walking by he recognized us and... called out to us and said that he didn't have time today, but he had a sermon prepared for us and he wanted us to come over. So we will probably get over there next saturday and listen to his sermon... we have our testimonies prepared in case he tries to bash.... but im not to worried about that because he wasn't a very confrontational guy when we were there the first time.

   We prayed with a Baptist Minister in her driveway. That was pretty cool. she was on her way to see someone in the hospital and we asked if we could pray for this person and she accepted it enthusiastically. so right there in her driveway we offered a prayer for this woman... 

    We have an appointment to teach a lady on wednesday... i feel pretty good about her. on saturday we asked if we could come into her home and say a prayer and leave a blessing on her home. she let us in and we offered the blessing and when we finished she described how she was feeling and we testified to her that it was the holy spirit of god and that we had a unique message that we wanted to share with her, and give her that opportunity to have that feeling with her all the time. She invited us back!!! 

WOW! i can't believe that Taran will be leaving soon! that is so exciting That is so awesome! i have a letter going out to  them today actually! !... as you will see my letter, i am doing a bit better. it is hard to send a missionary home...(sister barrett)  because i will admit i often wished i was in her place... but everyone tells me to give it 6-9 months and it will become easier... im hoping it is only six and not nine ha ha. but i think there are good things in store for this transfer!

I hope all is going well there and i hope that everyone is in good health.

I love you all 

love Sister Dannika Nielsen. 

It's A Small World

So, Chic-Fil-A opens in twin fall idaho next thrusday 1/10/13. Dannika's grandma is a news paper editor of a small newspaper in Burley, idaho. So the representative of Chic-Fil-A contacted the news paper to see if they could bring some samples of the menu and get them to do a write up in the paper about the opening of their new store... She tells dannika's grandma she is from Georgia, Atlanta.to which Renee says " I have a granddaughter serving a mission in gerogia." to which the lady quickly replies, "I live in Swuanee, Georgia, my husband is the ward mission leader. we will look her up and find her." Come to find out, dannika will be eating at their house on the 20th of this month. So this lady says she will make room in her suitcase for anything that my mom wants to send to dannika.

What an incredibly small world it is. The lord seems to know us all, and carefully orchistrates this grand thing called life

Happy New Year -12/31/12

Hey Y'all!!

I can't believe that it is already the new year!

   So there will prbably be some tough situations coming up with in the next few months... I am killing off my mother (trainer) she will be ending her mission on the 9th of January so im kinda freaking out about that, she has taught me well though so im sure ill be fine, but if i could request some extra prayers that would be great!

   It was so awesome to see you all on christmas, i was so glad that it worked out for us to all skype! I was very happy to see you all doing well! That started off my week on the right foot! i was worried that i would be distracted and depressed, but i only felt a little twinge of anxiety the next morning, and was able to push it aside and go to work!

   This week was a fantastic one! I was able to witness my own growth and abilities as i went on (my now third) exchange. On Wednesday after District meeting I went with Sister Young to Hamilton Mill for exchange! I learned so much on this exchange. Mostly I grew even more in my confidence, but the biggest thing that i took from it was the importance of being lovingly bold! Sister Berrett always pushes that trait and she is so very good at being that way, and I wondered if i even had it in me to be bold, but with this exchange, i found my bolder side (it is still under construction, but it is there)... I found myself stepping up and being bold in order to get return appointments, addressing concerns and taking control of the discussions when investigators would take the conversation elsewhere. I was very excited to find that i could do this and because it was done with love and with my purpose as a missionary in mind, it was far less scary than i thought it would be.
   With each new experience i become more and more confident that i can do this work and actually be a desent missionary... some days are still better than others, but i get along and it helps to be in the company of worthy priesthood holders. I had some trouble lastnight with worries about Tenna, i know that she is healthy and that she is making improvements, and i know that the Lords servents are promised that their families will be taken care of, but for some reason i was really worried about her, so i was able to get a blessing of comfort from our zone leaders and it helped significantly! I am so greatful that i get to serve with and around these awesome young men!

    New improvements in the work... we are still working with Sam (the highschooler) she isn't keeping all of the committments that we give her, but she does come to church so we still feel that we are able to work with her. The Lavoie family, as you know were baptized and we met with them last week for their first lesson as members of the church! it was awesome to feel the difference in their home after they had recieved the gift of the holy ghost. James (He is the one who called) is so awesome, i admire him so much! It was really neat, as we taught he stopped us and said " i know this is kind of off topic, but i talkied to Y'alls parents and Sister Nielsen, i talked to your mom and ive been thinking about this ever since she told me that you were bummed that you wouldn't be able to go with us WHEN WE GO TO THE TEMPLE." and then with tears in his eyes he got a little choked up, he said "I just want to let you know that you will be in our hearts when we go." I started to cry. it was so tender, i love this family, i can't even begin to tell you the love that i feel for them. I just wanted to give him the biggest hug... but couldn't being a sister and all... it is times like that, when i really dislike that rule... anyway I loved the fact that he was thinking about it since he talked with mom! that he and his wife have the temple on their minds, because this is the ultimate goal in this life and we as missionaries just get them started by providing the way for baptism! Then we have another investigator Karlin He is the housemate of one of our recent converts, sistere berrett has tried to get him to accept a Book of Mormon and he has refused everytime. One night we went over to visit our RC (recent convert) but she wasn't there, i think i may have told you this story, but we got to talking to karlin instead and he mentioned that he wanted to start a new chapter in his life and i told him that he could with the book of mormon and asked him if he would accept it and he did... any way, he has been reading it, and we are hoping to be able to begin teaching him soon! then there is Clara who is excited about the book of mormon, but has been sick, so we haven't been able to start teaching her, but i know she will be baptized soon!

   The work is going great... I am able to be myself around the other missionaries, my personality has begun to come out and i can actually joke and not feel to increadibley stupid!

   Well family i hope y'all have a good week.

Discover the tender mercies of the lord!

love Sister Nielsen (Dannika)

Its Beginning to feel a lot like Christmas....

WE GOT THIS EMAIL ON MONDAY THE  24TH....

Hey Y'all

.Sorry to disappoint you ataya, but i don't have an accent... we are in a suburban area and hardly anyone has an accent... ill have to wait till i go into the country to hear the legit accents... anyway, we will be skyping from sister galts house tomorrow at 7:30pm sorry it is so late, but we are super busy and i kinda just wanted to talk to y'all at the end of the night so i could just go home and go to bed after ward. I hope your Christmas is good and i thank you for the Christmas packages... and yes the ginger bread house made it in one piece. Sister berrett and i are excited to decorate it tonight! i got the package that you sent to sister galts house thank you so much!

Well i am glad to know that it is pretty normal for missionaries to be depressed for the first 3-4 months... things are starting to get better though... i am very glad, and i am sure my companion is too.
This past week has been one of the best so far! The lavoies were baptized on Saturday!!!! it was incredible! Jenne, the mom, her parents (converts themselves) drove into town form Vermont to be here for the baptism...but... they thought, and we let them believe that it was just the two children getting baptized... because Jenne and James wanted to surprise them! so we came to the church on Saturday at like 5:15 and the family was there waiting for us! so we all went in and when 5:30 rolled around we had Jenne take Alexis and "help" her get dressed into her jumpsuit and James "helped" Brandon get dressed too... so Jenne and James dressed in their jumpsuits as well, then the children went back into the relief society room where grandma and grandpa were waiting... then all four of us missionaries came into the room and had James and Jenne wait 10 seconds before they came in.... oh, when they came in, it was so incredible!! Jenne's mom let out a cry of excitement, jumped to her feet and took her daughter in her arms and started sobbing! it was the sweetest moment on my mission so far! Tears began to sting my eyes as grandma hugged her daughter and son in law. Oh man, i can't even begin to describe the spirit that was in that room! and it only became stronger as they each stepped down into the water to be baptized. Probably my most favorite moment of the night though, was talking to james after and asking him how he felt... tears welled up in his kind brown eyes as he told us that it felt as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders when he came out of the water. Oh family, i seriously can't even begin to tell you how it felt when he said that! James is a good man and he txts us now all the time telling us thank you for all that you have done for my family! 

I have so much love for this family and the only bummer about the date that they were baptized, is that i will still be on my mission when they go through the temple... so i won't get to go with them...   

On Sunday they were confirmed! again, another amazing moment!!!! 

After church, we taught a lesson to our high school investigator and i hope i don't sound prideful when i say this, but i was able to actually vocalize the thoughts of my heart, and the promptings that came to my mind. and i bore down in pure testimony to her as i told her that she knew wat she needed to do to know that the church is true, and  that was to read the book of Mormon. i was pretty bold with her, but it was completely out of love and by the spirit! it was such an amazing feeling to say those things and watch the spirit penetrate her heart... we are hopeful that she will be baptized on the 5th of January!!

well family this week has been a pretty good one! and i am glad that i have been able to feel and realize my confidence growing.. i thank my Heavenly Father for this great blessing!

...oh... Elder Thompson aka the bomb (zone leader) says HI... Sister Berrett (mom/trainer) says hi! she still wants a picture of the whole family!  

well family, i will talk to you tomorrow... till tomorrow!!!

Humid Cold...Gerogia Style...

Hey Y'all,

   So we should have SKYPEing capabilities. we are just working details out with some of the members to see how and when we can come over and skype, but it shouldn't be a problem. I don't remember my account information... so you may have to set up another account for me and them give me the user name and login info... but ataya expressed concern that she would not be home till after 3:00. so i will have to call at about 5:00 pm our time. Does it cost to skype?... anyway, i am really excited to see you guys on Christmas! WARNING: there will most likely be lots of tears on my end!! so don't be surprised!

   So the weather here has been pretty mild... so im told, it has been raining a bit this week and the humid cold is defiantly different from the dry cold... the members tease me because i stay in my coat longer than everyone else when we get to the church on sundays... when that cold gets to you, it takes a little longer to warm up!  and i never had a problem with my toes freezing, but my toes are always cold... ha ha! anyway, i have loved the skies here though they are just so majestic!... the clouds are always so different and interesting, and the sunsets are AMAZING!!!! I love them!  

   So we have a Mission Christmas party on Wednesday... the entire mission is getting together! it should be.... interesting... i have a hard time with large groups of people lately... it seems to be more severe than before... anyway, all the sisters are having a secret sister gift exchange  that will be fun I'm sure! I got the most out going sister in the mission. its a good thing my MOM (trainer) has been her companion before so she can help me find something for her!

   This last week has been... interesting, Sister Berrett has been sick lately so we have been taking it at a slower pace, but we have still seen many miracles! The lord is merciful!

we spent one evening with on of  the members and baked cookies, cakes and brownies and decorated them all and then the next day delivered them to all our recent converts and investigators. we took one to this lady we met a few weeks ago and gave her a Book of Mormon with it. when we handed her the Book of Mormon, she looked at it and her eyes lit up and welled with tears and she took the book and pressed it to her chest and said " oh...i love this book thank you so much!" it was so neat to see her reaction to the Book of Mormon. She is from Palau and almost half of the population on that island are Mormon, so she is familiar with with the church and we are pretty sure that she will be baptized! 

   We then went to one of our recent converts homes to deliver a treat, she wasn't home, but her housemate was. He let us in and we talked with him and offered him a Book of Mormon and he accepted it... which was miracle in itself because Sister Berrett has tried to give him one, a few times before, and he would flat out refuse it! but he took it and we both bore testimony of it and the spirit entered an then we said a prayer and with the prayer, the spirit grew even stronger! it was great! So, had our recent convert been there we would not have gotten to speak with the roommate, because he will usually leave the room or the apartment completely when we come to visit! so that was a miracle! 

   I don't know if i told you this last week or not, but the family that we have helped teach with the zone leaders has FINALLY accepted to be baptized on the 22nd!!!!!! we are all so excited! this family has been in contact with the missionaries since April and now they are getting baptized!!! 

   We also had a lesson last Sunday with an investigator that is really struggling to pray to know if the church is true, because she is afraid of the answer that she will get... she knows that she will have to become a "Mormon" when she gets her answer, we are pretty sure that she knows the answer she will get, and this scares her... she is in high school and she is afraid of how she will be treated if people knows she is Mormon. We are so blessed in Idaho to have a large LDS population and to have seminary classes and attend schools with a large number of LDS students! because here, the seminary classes are very small and the students are spread out over many different schools... it is totally different out here. But anyway, this girl will be baptized, we aren't worried about that, but she will just do it at her own pace... but the lesson that we had with her was SUPER powerful, we were ALL in tears at the end... members, missionaries and investigator! POWERFUL!! it was so much fun!!! i love leaving those lessons, because we are on a spiritual high for the rest of the day!!! The only thing that i hate doing is trying to describing it... because there are no words that exist that can explain adequately the feelings and experiences that i am having out here. It is just plain incredible! I can't even put words to them well enough to get them into a journal... i try, i really do, but as i read what i have written, my entries fall short of the actual experience... i just hope i can recall these experiences when i read over them, years form now... speaking of journaling, does grandpa have his journals form his mission? 

well family, it is that time again, that i must say good bye for the week, so until next week, I love you!

LOVE 

Sister Dannika Nielsen!

i hope Y'all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

  

Memos from Georgia 12/9/12

The Christmas Party was good... we just ate lunch at our Zone Leaders place... they live with a member and the member let us come over and have the party there. Then we did a white elephant gift exchange with random things that we find in the missionary apartments...lol pretty interesting stuff that you can find in these apartments! Anyway, the rest of the time the Elders just goofed off... lol there was magic tricks, some were walking up and down t he stairs on their hands, balancing chairs on their chins, playing ukulalis and harmonicas, and at one point there was a rubber chicken... ha ha ... we had quite the assortment of entertainment. It was great fun. I am suprised at how comfortable i am around all these other missionaries, i mean not totally comfortable, but comfortable enough.

     My emotions are still out of whack... one day there are at an all time high and then at an all time low... I am all for roller coasters, but this is a roller coaster ride that i want off of... 

     So we were blessed to have yet another baptism on Saturday!! And we have at least 2 more lined up for the 22nd... i say at least, because the Lavoie family that we have been teaching has allowed their 11 and 12 year old children to get baptized, and we have been working on the parents and we are pretty sure that they will be baptized with them as well, so that will be 4 total and if we can get the Dad to allow the 9 year old to be baptized too, then their entire family (with the exception of their youngest who is 6)  will be baptized together on the 22nd!! how exciting is that!!

We had a pretty POWERFUL lesson with them on Thursday night. Again there was NO doubt that that family knows that this gospel is true. The spirit was so strong, i think that even the hardest heart would have felt this.

I am constantly amazed at the great miracles that i get to witness each week. So indescribable, and so numerous that i can not write and describe the wonder of it all!!

     Anyway, i better get going, i still have shopping to do. But i do want to let y'all know that i do have a testimony of this gospel Helaman 5:12 has just recently become personally meaningful to me...

"and now my sons remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon in men build THEY CANNOT FALL."

I know this is true, because i have had some very tough times out here, but no matter how bad my day gets and no matter how low Satan brings me...it all comes back to what i know to be true...and i know that i have a testimony, my foundation, and it is build on and centered in Christ, i know he lives, i know his gospel is true, and it is this that keeps me from giving up. There is hope and i am promised that i CANNOT fall. If this church were not true, i would not be out here still, because nothing save it be the true and everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ could keep me out here. It is great and it is all true!!

Will you please send my love and deepest gratitude to the 15th ward, I've been thinking alot about them lately!

love you all,

Sister Nielsen