Friday, April 29, 2016

The Final Stretch

(Written Monday, March 21, 2016)

My dear family and friends,

This was a great ending to transfer 12 and now it is time to begin my last transfer. I can't believe that this is it. But we had a great week with so many miracles that came from working so hard. We hit all the standards of excellence this week, met some amazing people while walking on the street and shared some great lessons and messages about the New Easter video called "Hallelujah." We are finding so many prepared people and have set a high goal for baptisms next transfer but I believe we can do it. The people are out there.
We've also seen some great miracles from temple tours and teaching people about forever families. The Vegas Temple holds a special place in my heart.


We saw Talia and Nicole get baptized on Saturday as well. It was such a great day to bring more of God's children back to Him.

We've also really been trying to organize our apartment and the old paper area books so that no one gets lost and we can find old investigators to try teaching again. We are getting the area in great shape so we can put things on the iPad and I can leave the area better than I found it when I go home. Sister Faucette and I have a stack of papers probably 6 inches high that have to be recycled. So much paper! Ahh but all is going well.

We found out about transfers this week and Sister Faucette is leaving me to go out of valley to Kingman, Arizona. I'm way excited for her, but sad she won't be with me til the end. My new companion is Sister Wilde, I don't know much about her other than that she's really funny and she works hard. She's 27 and she'll be here with me tomorrow morning so here we go!

I've been really touched by the scriptures this week. They have become even more "delicious" to me as I read about the amazing missionaries in the book of Alma. I read Alma 26, the missionary anthem chapter this week and felt near tears because of all the miracles I've been blessed to see and the people I've come to know in this amazing city. I love it here so much. It's crazy that my time is so short. I wish I could stay but I'm also excited to see my family, how bittersweet this is.
I did learn something that has changed the way I look at sin and hopefully sharing it with you will change it as well. I run into a lot of people involved with so many awful sad things that perhaps under different circumstances they may not have fell prey to. I always wonder how they got there, where did it all start and how Satan can be so sneaky with us and I learned how today while reading
 Alma 30:17-18 17  "And many more such things did he say unto them, telling them that there could be no atonement made for the sins of men, but every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever a man did was no crime.
 18 And thus he did preach unto them, leading away the hearts of many, causing them to lift up their heads in their wickedness, yea, leading away many women, and also men, to commit whoredoms--telling them that when a man was dead, that was the end thereof."
I think what Satan does to convince us that sinning is great in one or both of these things. He clouds our understanding of an eternal perspective which makes our choices matter and he teaches us to forget who we are (sons and daughters of a Divine Being).  He teaches us to rely on ourselves and takes away our self worth as divine beings as well and when that happens, sin seems enticing. I've learned that we can't ever be stronger than Satan when put into tempting situations, but we can be smarter than him by remembering who we are and whose we are and by always having an eternal perspective of the blessings coming our way because of our divine nature. I don't know about you, but this makes me want to sin less and remember who I am more.

I love you all. I'm grateful for the good examples you are to me and I can't wait to come home and be around you more and learn more from you. But until my six weeks are up, I still have time to be a great representative of the Lord and proclaim his gospel to the world. I'm very excited about these final days to give it my all. May you all have a great week!
Love,
 Sister Nelson
"And the race is about to begin..."
Only those of you who have seen better off dead will get it but it's so true, here I go! Running to the very end!

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