The Light of Christ

New cloths for mission: $$$$
New bike for mission $$$$
New shoes for mission $$$$
monthly missionary cost $$$$

Experiences like this that will last the rest of her life PRICELESS!!!!!!

Well Family, 

Oh my what Dad you are in the young men's presidency! that is amazing! you will love it and i know that you can do this! congrats. 

This week has brought about a ton of changes.... i found out that i will be finish training sister reese, so im technically a trainer this transfer... also, we are loosing our car and being put on bikes completely... im nervous because the hills here are killer... i am very nervous for the coming transfer, but i know that the lord will taker care of me. 

I want to share with ya'll an experience that has brought me so much happiness in my mission!

So when i was in my first area, we were working with a man that was by the worlds standards... rough around that edges... very rough. He is an ex marine and has seen some terrible things in his life and says that he has done some equally terrible things, he believed that he was irredeemable because the lord couldn't possibly love him after what he has done... Through that power of god and much prayer for charity i was able to see through his tough outer shell. I gave him a book of mormon and he agreed to read it. we would talk to him, but we hadn't met with him to teach him... so one day i just asked him when we could start to teach him.. and he said that we could come over any time... so we started to teach him and it was really difficult, there was contention between him and his roommate during the lessons and the spirit would leave.... but we persisted and continued to teach him and committing him to read the book of mormon... lessons were hard because my comp struggled to love him.... and i was getting discouraged.... but the lord let me watch a miracle.... the last lesson that i taught him befor i was transferred, was amazing! we walked in and he was sitting in his chair... super tired from work, but he still let us in to teach a lesson. when we shook his hand, i looked into his eyes and i was amazed... his eyes were clear and bright.... they were different from the eyes that i had been seeing that were dim and dark from living a life in sorrow and discouragement. I had only heared of this change in stories, when people said that they could see as peoples eyes changed as someone was returning to the truth. but this day, i was able to witness it.... his eyes were clear and even behind that tiredness he was happy.... he was reading the book of mormon... i knew he was because i could see that light of christ returning to his eyes in that moment i learned just how much that the Lord loves this man and i could feel that love that he has for him and i began to love this man even more than i had before! 

I knew that he could change! On my last Sunday in that area he came to church! i thanked him for coming and told him that i would be leaving, but i would be back when he was baptized... i said it with a joking tone, but i meant every word of it because i knew it was possible... he rolled his eyes at me and chuckled... before i left i made my comp promise me that she wouldn't give up on him... he might be difficult and he might require patience, but he will come along...

Now for the big miracle! last week i found out that he is being baptized on the 30th. yep! 

I knew that the lord would prepare him and that he could make the changes in his life... i have always had the feeling that the lord has great things in store for him... i was so happy when i found this out... i cried! yep i cried

This has made my entire mission... i believe that i was sent here to help this man find the gospel. i may not have taught him much but i was able to be some kind of influence in his life.

my mission keeps surprising me every day there are always things that amaze me... i know that heavenly father loves his children and he is so involved in our lives. 

i love you all so much and i will talk to you later. 

Sister Dannika Nielsen

Finally....Pictures Home!!!!!

Georgia Atlanta Temple

Even Animals Can Feel the Spirit Testify of Their Creator

Hey Family!

thank you again and again for the bike i really appriciate it! Elder Atkin should be by later today to drop it off!

This week was great! We had Zone Conference and i was able to get so much out of this one, since i am in a better place emotionally. the las zone conference was.... well not so good... but anyway. My companionship was called to perform a musical number in the conference.... so sister Paepaetaata and i sang and sister reese played the piano. we sang How great thou art... it was beautiful.... we made people cry! (: anyway, i tell you this not to boast, but because before my mission i would never have dreamed to sing in front of people... i mean, i was still nervous, but i did it. But i have gained more confidence in myself and i love it! i hope that i don't loose it when i get home! 

So we were tracting yesterday, and we came to this on house and knocked the door, when the door opened a dog escaped and then a young adult with his face painted like a singer from KISS flies out the door after this dog, the whole time swearing up a storm... his mouth was worse than a sailors... but i had to laugh, because sister Paepaetaata  bout wet herself, it scared her so bad... it was the funniest thing ever! Eventually the young man came back and his grandpa came out to retreve the dog we asked if we could come in and say a prayer with their family... the grandson very angrily said he would have no part in it and the grand father told us to come back later. we left there, but this time instead of feeling rejected and angry, i was filled with a concern for that young man. I was able to feel the anger and saddness behind the tone he took with us... i can't really explain it, other than i was granted charity for this young man. I walked away feeling very sad for him... i really want to go back and talk with him and his grandfather... I am always amazed at the love that i feel for the people we teach. but this was different, i was able to feel love for him from the very beginning.... family this is such a great work... i see miracles everyday and i do stand all amazed....

After we left that house, the next one we knocked on was an old widower who let us in, we talked with him and prayed with him, but he said he was pretty content with his current belief called "fa lun da fa" he said that he used to be christian but he could never understand it. the entire time we were there his three dogs sat quiet and he looked at us and said "man, you girls are good, my dogs are never this quiet when company comes they are constantly barking trying to break down the gate to come and see who is here... but they haven't made a single peep"

That is the power of the spirit... even animals can feel the spirit testify of their creator... i was amazed at this. i then made a joke as we walked away from his house i told my companions "im gonna re-write the words to the song the spirit of god... instead of the spirit of god like a fire is burning ill write the spirit of god like a dog is not barking.... lol totally cheesy i know but we all got a good laugh.

we left this mans home, and the same feeling swept over me, i felt a concern for him... i know that the atonement can heal all sorrow and all hurt and i prayed that night that heavenly father would bless these two son's of his.

We met a family this week that let us come in and pray with them, they are a totally elect family, the mother told us about how she gained her own testimony of the power of prayer and she felt that it was no accident that we came and knocked on her door. we are gonna go back and start teaching them. we are all really excited for them and very hopeful!

 well family, i haveto get going I hope all is well this week and i hope that you all are happy and healthy

i love you and thank you again for all that you do for me. you all raise me up!

love

sister nielsen

Queen of "THE LAW"

Oh dear Family,

it sounds like you all are so busy. That can be a good thing sometimes, but a day to yourself is always appreciated. i hope that you all are able to find time to see the tender mercies of the Lord.

Anyway, i havebeen so excited to get to email you Ya'll this week. so as you know, i have 2 new companions, Sister Paepaetaata and Sister Reese (she's the greenie)

Sister P. is great, she is so funny, always keeps us laughing and keeps the tripanionship fun! 

Sister Reese.... she is so great! she is form mt caramel utah (where ever that is :) she reminds me of a scared, timid and unsure baby missionary i used to know....  I watch her as she tears up just talking to people and my heart aches for her, because i KNOW how hard that was to keep those tears back with every word. and as she struggles to learn the lessons, and as she compares herself to her trainer, or when i see her in the rear view mirror as she sits in the back seat and silent tears fill her eyes, because she misses home, or counts the months she still has and wonders what she got herself into.... i want to make it all better, because i know the despair that follows all those thoughts and emotions, but i also know the joy that comes when those trials are overcome through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I know the joy that is there when you realize that you know more, and can do more than you thought, because you have the Lord on your side.

I have really tried to be observant and tried to talk to her when the spirit has told me to. I have had words of encouragement and questions come to my mind to tell and ask her, and as i have followed the spirit and talked with her, i have found that she had been helped by this. She has told me on several occasions "sister nielsen, you always seem to know what to say to make me feel better" this has made me rejoice not in myself of course, but in the fact that Heavenly Father knows all of us perfectly and he knows what we need, and when we need it to help us through our struggles. he knows what sister reese needs and he helps her through other sisters like myself and sister p. Sisters that know what it was like in the beginning! 

I am so grateful for the things i went through at the beginning of my mission, not only did then force me to rely on my savior and become stronger, but now i can use them to help sister Reese! and i can promise her that things will get better, because they got better for me! I just love the way the Lord works. He truly is the great orchestrator, and he does it so lovingly! 

So now on to the not so spiritual experiences of mission life... ha ha ok so i am somewhat embarrassed to admit this, but im gonna do it anyway, cuz i now have the right to brag. k so, there is a family here in Lilburn that does what they call THE LAW.... dun dun dun.... so what it is, is an eating contest... yep. so the law is you must eat 2 plates of heavy Haitian food (rice, beans, chicken, pasta, salad, brussel sprouts, and rolls) then you must eat a bowl of fruit, then you must eat a dessert. Then.... for the sisters, you have to eat 8 snickers ice cream bars, and 10 for the elders. you must do all this to get your name and picture in "the book"  then there is a King and Queen of the law and if you want, you can try and take the crown form them.... so sister Paepaetaata holds the title as queen with 13.... excuse me "held" the title up till last night....oh yeah... Sister Nielsen is the current reigning Queen Of The Law with 14 snickers ice cream bars consumed!!!!!!!  

Im am somewhat proud and disgusted with myself for having consumed that much food. but i had to do it in order to have the full experience... ha ha! I have never been so full/sick in my life.. I never want to see another snickers bar in my life! Now i really can't wait to get on a bike... lol ill be working off the calories from that meal for the rest of my mission... ha ha.

Anyway family, i have to get going, but i love you and appreciate all that you do for me. have a blessed week

Love your favorite sister missionary

Sister Dannika Nielsen.  

BEING TRANSFERED!!!!!!!

Hey family!

So i am being transferred! To......... Lilburn! Im pretty excited for a change in venue... and a bigger apartment! ha ha i hear the apartment in lilburn in huge! My new comp is sister Papatata she is from Tahiti! and it will be me and her greenie, so i will be sort of "co-training" and i won't have to wait a week to get my mail forwarded ha ha !

Anyway, things are going pretty awesome, i am really loving my district and now im getting transferred... ha ha oh well such is life i guess! well anyway family i wish i had more to share with yall, but i have to go back to the apartment and finish packing to transfer.

well family i hope you have a good week and sorry again for the short letter!
Sister Dannika Nielsen

All is well in Suwanee........

Hey Family!

***MOM*** if you have not sent my portfolio yet PLEASE DONT WORRY ABOUT SENDING IT i don't need it

2 Nephi 31:20 "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and of all men. Werefore if ye shall press forward feasting upon the word of christ and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: yea shall have eternal life." So i finished my first drawing in the Mission Field i tried to depict HOPE. Sister berrett told me that she wanted meto draw hope, because i was having trouble finding hope in my days, so this is what i came up with. i HOPE Y'all enjoy ;}

  

Ok i hate this part...EHHHH i always feel so bossy and demanding writing this part of my letters... i am so sorry....but sisters will be on bikes by spring, so ive got to get a bike figured out... if you call the mission office and ask for Elder Conners, he can help you coordinate that. i know he has bikes in the office that we can purchase so you wouldnt have to send mine out, it might be cheaper and less of a hassle to go through the office anyway. But if you would call him and figure that all out, i would greatly appriciate that too! Oh and if you do decide to get a bike through the office... will you be sure that Elder Conners understands that i do not want a beach cruzer.... georgia is not FLAT, it is very hilly and i don't want to die on the hills ehhhh ok im glad that part is over... lets move on to more awesome stuff =)

So as you heard, we did get hit with a pretty huge storm last week. President had all of us on lock down in our apartments for the day due to tornado warnings there was a tornado that did touch down, but nowere near our area, we just got rain... buckets and buckets of rain. coolest thing ever! i don't think i have seen a worse rain storm! oooo and the thunder was amazing! But we didn't see any tornados though... kind of a bummer, i want to see at least one while im on my mission... from a distance of course! but still want to see one!

So we had a baptism on saturday, it was probably one of the best we've had so far! The spirit was really strong, and i was just so glad to be a missionary! It is the days that i get to see someone enter the water in white that makes all the rejection and disappointments worth it! I love being a missionary and having the satisfaction of a job well done when an investigator makes the decision to be baptized! Our work is not finished at baptism though, because, then the hard part begins, the new member must now endure to the end and that first year as a baby mormon (hee hee) is rough! As the newness and excitement wears off, and there are so many changes that they must make in their life and so much new information that will be given to them. They must learn how to recognize the Holy Ghost and learn how to keep it as a constant companion in order to continue enduring. And Satan gives them no breaks he works just as hard, if not harder to get them to fail. Satan dosen't care about those who are already skrewing up their lives, he wants those who have made the decision to follow Christ. He knows that ther is happiness in that decision, and he wants nothing but our misery!

So our job as missionaries is to, with the help of the ward of course, make sure we are still visiting with them and providing an atmosphere where they can feel the spirit and encourage them to continue on the path! It's tough work sometimes! So, i would encourage yo'all to, when the missionaries bring some one to church... help fellowship these people, because new members need friends in the church, because the missionaries arent always going to be around. Suwanee ward is GREAT at this, we never have to worry about bringing our investigators to church because we KNOW they will be taken care of!  

Well family, ther isn't a whole lot more to say, other than i love y'all so much! and hope yall are haveing a great week

love you and miss you

Love

--
Sister Dannika Nielsen

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.