Hey, Sister Hay

(Written Monday, July 13, 2105)

Hello wonderful friends and family,

It has been an amazing first week to transfer number 7! I am so happy to be working with Sister Haycock, or as Veronica (one of our 8 year old members) calls her: Sister Hiccup. She's a Georgia peach and lives two hours away from Sister Stark, but didn't know her until they met in the MTC in Mexico (she came in with Sister Stark) she is fun and crazy like me and has a wonderful bubbly personality, we already have crazy jokes and laugh way too much but we are having so much fun doing Heavenly Father's work, I feel so privileged to be able to work with her. We will see many miracles together this transfer :)

Me and sister Haycock this morning

We did all kinds of random things this week:
Monday Sister Stark and I celebrated an end to a beautiful transfer by going to DI and I bought so many things, five shirts and five skirts for 25 bucks. All good things and much needed! (One of the shirts is a t shirt that I won't get to wear as a missionary, but it was too good not to get, it says I want to believe and has a UFO on it...so sweet)
We also went to go say goodbye to some of the people we teach and while we were with Jaime there was a crazy rain storm! (Check the blog for pictures! It was so pretty) I really miss Indiana rainstorms so any time it rains here it's such a treat for me! There was a beautiful rainbow over the chapel just as we got there for another lesson.

This week was 7/11 so we got free slushies, we got chocolate covered strawberries at our dear friend Isabel's Missionary farewell (she'll be serving in Anaheim, California) and we made lots of cookies and ate way too much food so we both probably gained 20 pounds this week, but who cares?

I have always wanted to take a watermelon picture like this
and I finally got to with the Hernandez family and Sister Stark :)

I love the opportunity to serve a mission, I see blessings and miracles every day and I feel so grateful to be able to do this. It goes way too fast and I feel like I'm running to hold on, but it feels so good. Jaime and Pepe will be getting baptized this weekend and we had the miracle of this new family that we are teaching come to church with us, and the dad who was not interested before he came with them for the first time! We had 8 people in total at church today that are learning from us and we felt so happy helping these people feel of the blessings and peace and love that Heavenly Father has for them.

We went to the funeral of the young man who passed away last week and one phrase really stuck with me, one of his brothers said that "the trials come after the preparation is finished" I believe that is true because although it has been hard sometimes, I know I have been prepared to handle the trials that I have passed through. This family's strength has been incredible to me and it reminds me of two scriptures.
Alma 13:28 "...watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit" I like this scripture because I think we can apply it to say that we won't have trials that we can't bear either.
I think Heavenly Father is helping us so much with everything we go through and it reminds me of this scripture which is one of my favorites in Mosiah 24:14-15 "And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in... 15And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord." 

I love this church. I love the scriptures because they are proven true to us daily and I love being a missionary!
May Heavenly Father bless you this week! Please think on how he has helped you through your trials and you will see that you have never been alone.
Love,
Hermana Alayna Nelson