God Lives, He Answers Prayers

(Written Monday, October 12, 2015)

Dear friends and family,

What a wonderful week this has been for us. I am so grateful to be here learning from others and continually trying to better myself and become who God wants and needs me to be. We saw many miracles this week which is what we have been praying for since it is Sister Martin's last transfer. Heavenly Father is delivering in marvelous ways as we work our hardest to prove to the Lord we are willing and trying. We went to areas we have never worked in before and found many promising people to teach and we had a zone training meeting where we, as leaders, inspired our missionaries to exercise their faith (my training) their agency to make their missions the best (Sister Martin's training) and to be obedient (Elder Hale's training) and use and access the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ daily (elder Rockwood's training).  It was such a spiritual day and we learned a lot.

I would like to express my love and testimony to all of you about my Savior, Jesus Christ. It is through him that sinners can become good and good people can become better. I have hope to become who God needs me to be as I exercise my faith in Him through my actions. Our goal as a companionship this transfer was to bring 6 people to the waters of baptism and the gates of heaven. We have one that is solid named Anahi who is 14 and getting baptized this Saturday, but we lost a ton of investigators and we're basically starting from scratch and wanted to find a family of five. All week we were struggling to find them. We went to the temple and began to pray for them, we tried different things. This Sunday we both fasted to find them, we planned so well and tried to create the situation in which we would find them with specific prayer. We asked Heavenly Father to prepare a family in our blue or purple areas and that we would go there. All day we found no success, none before church in our blue area, but we worked tirelessly to find our family, we went to church, after church we found no one. We talked to a man who tried to question everything we said and wouldn't let us talk. But I remembered something that my trainer said to me one of my first weeks in the mission " when things get hard or frustrating, just keep going, because something really great is about to happen and this part is just a test." That has proven true my whole mission, so as we left sad and frustrated, we prayed that Heavenly Father would guide us to them in our purple area. As we knocked on every door, nothing happened. We were about to get in our car to go to our meeting at 7:55 and we saw a house and we knew we needed to knock it, we walked over and knocked twice, there was no answer so we walked away, but they opened the door! It was a family of seven who have Mormon friends and were so kind and they invited us in to say a prayer with them and come by next week. There are five of them that are of age to be baptized, but what a ten times mercy that Heavenly Father gave us two extra sweet young boys to love and cherish too. We walked away and just cried that at the very last moment when we were about to resign the fact that we wouldn't find them that night, Heavenly Father gave them to us for our diligence. I know that God exists, that He hears our prayers and is mindful of our righteous desires and wants to help us. He helped us, he answered our prayers and he will answer yours. Keep praying, keep going, be creators in your circumstances and He will give you success.
I love you all so much!
Please have a marvelous week!
Sister Alayna Nelson

"What the Heck is a Webelo?" And Other Life Questions.

(Written Monday, July 20, 2015)

Family, Friends, Universe!

I am so privileged to be serving here in Las Vegas. I am in the best area of the mission and I wouldn't change a thing about what is happening here! Heavenly Father is blessing us so much and I feel His love every day, but more importantly, I feel His trust now, which is far better in my opinion than His love.

We have 11 people that are getting ready for baptism (they have a date set) and we've been having so many join us for church and also steadily finding new people that Heavenly Father has sent to us to teach. I know it is not by my efforts at all, it feels as though these people have simply fallen into my lap and I just get the privilege of teaching them the simple things I know to be true. This is truly an amazing thing I get to be a part of and I feel so happy going to bed exhausted every night. I am working harder than I ever have in my mission let alone my life and I LOVE IT! But the only thing I wish I had was more time. Time is going way too fast now and it's only bound to go faster. I feel like I am running after the train of time that is speeding me along saying, wait for me to catch up, this is too fast.

Two incredible things happened this week:
Jaime got baptized and we took a very ready family to the temple to teach them about how they can be a family forever.

Saturday started when I woke up from a dream where we were at Jaime's baptism and I was giving a talk on the Holy Ghost and in my dream, I was using some scriptures, so I made sure to include those scriptures in my talk. We went to do our personal study on the lawn of the temple (literally the only place in all of Las Vegas that has a giant green lawn, it reminds me of home) and it was so peaceful that morning. Afterwards, we met up with the Garibay family who are getting baptized this upcoming weekend and we did a tour. As you can see in the picture, they are such a special and wonderful family!

We took them into the courtyard and talked about eternal families and the mom grabbed all her kids into a big hug and said I want to be with them forever and I want to help my ancestors. We have to do this. She began to cry and it was such a special moment. The spirit is very strong at the temple and this family will do so many wonderful things here!

In the afternoon, I got to watch a dear friend and brother of mine get baptized and it was so special! I am so proud of Jaime and the spirit was there! He is an incredible man and I know he will do great things for the church. When he got his blessing to receive the Holy Ghost, it was straight from Heavenly Father because the things the man said were things that he didn't know about Jaime.

I know this church is true. I know that Heavenly Father loves us and I know he is proud of what we are doing.

To answer the above question, I learned what a webelo is, I never knew. A Webelo suggests an inner change or advancement of becoming better. I think that is so cool because that is what I am here to accomplish I guess, becoming a webelo in life and you are too (yep, this email just got cheesy) I love seeing these inner changes that make such bigger outer changes for us!

To close off with some other life questions, when asked what superhero would we be, we have discovered them in a book of superheros. I would be Kitty Pryde (yes with a Y) and my companion would be Dazzler. You will have to go to the blog to see our superheros, but they definitely look like us! When we asked Jaime what names he would guess we had, he obviously guessed Spanish names, so I evidently look like a Martina and my companion looks like a Sandra. Life questions answered!

I love you all have a great week!
Love,
Hermana Alayna Nelson
AKA Kitty Pryde
AKA Martina

Mother's Day, Cinco de Mayo and Baptisms

Salutations world and Happy Mother's Day once more!

This week has been incredible, there was such a wide variety of things that happened!

We had a zone conference where we were spiritually enlightened by our leaders and learned so much.

We also were able to do our first temple tour with one of our investigators and his girlfriend who is a member that wants to relearn everything. It was so incredible to see the spirit work on both of them as we walked the grounds. Tomas, our investigator described the feeling best when he said' " it's like going on a vacation, but better because all of your problems just leave you and it's not like at the end of your vacation when you're just worried about having to jump back into to everything you were doing... you just feel a never-ending peace." He also said his first out loud prayer with us and his girlfriend, Aarika, started crying. She said she couldn't believe this was happening and that it wasn't too late and I bore testimony that it is never too late for Heavenly Father and just how much He loves her. They also each got to pick a spot on the temple to be their spot and their promise to themselves and to God to enter in one day and be married. It was very special to see how much this was changing them and I know that one day they will be able to be sealed or bound together forever in the temple and not just 'til death do us part.

Another wonderful thing about this week was that Jaime, one of our investigators came to church for the first time this week and loved how he felt and what he learned! It was incredible! I know he is very ready to accept the gospel in his life and he is a really cool guy.

We also celebrated Cinco de Mayo at one of our district meetings... so that was awesome.

But the most exciting moment from this week was being able to go to my first baptism. Gaby, Jorge and Alejandro all made the choice to be baptized and it was so special for me. I know this family will do wonderful and great things here and that this will bless their lives so much! I have grown to love this family and am so grateful for the opportunity I had to teach this family and see them progress. What made it even more special was that their 14 year old son has been reading the Book of Mormon diligently and studying and learning about the church and when the leaders were welcoming him in, he began to cry. I did so well not crying the whole time, but when I saw this, I cried too, because I knew that the spirit was touching his heart so strongly and I also remembered that from the beginning I could see him serving a mission and changing so many lives one day. I know he is realizing that now too and I am so glad! I love them so much.

I also love the gospel of Jesus Christ and how as missionaries, we are able to see it change the lives of so many people in so many different stages, the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true, Jesus Christ lives and directs this church. I love Him, I serve Him and this time of my life is something I am so grateful for. It was wonderful to talk with my family yesterday and it's crazy to think I only get to do it once more at Christmastime and then I come home in April. It's going to fast, but I am doing everything I can to enjoy it!

Much Love,
Hermana Alayna Nelson

Temples and Cacti

Howdy Y'all

This week has been pretty cool! We got to go to the temple again for Sister Stark because she is a new missionary. It was a beautiful day.

We also tried out riding bikes this week (dorky bike pictures will also be on the blog).

And we had a very awesome zone conference where we painted our hands and committed to consecrate ourselves more fully to this work because our time is so short, it was very impacting and powerful.

I wanted to share my testimony today about being in the right place at the right time. I know that Heavenly Father is pleased with the work we are doing because he helps us to be where he needs us when we are being obedient. Two instances happened yesterday where I know his hands are in our work. We were pulled into a driveway and hadn't headed in yet because we needed to send a text and a car pulls over and a girl gets out and knocks on our window. She was about to go on a mission and really wanted to go out with sister missionaries and serve with them. She hadn't been able to find any but saw our bike rack and turned around. It was very inspired that we hadn't gone inside yet so that we could help her.
We also were supposed to be on a street to try a family and as I pulled onto the street I saw all these Hispanic women crowded around a baby and something told me turn around. I called out to them and asked if they needed help and they said yes. A two year old boy named Anthony had grabbed a cactus and it was stuck in his hand, we ran down the street and knocked on two doors, one of them was a member and he ran down with a first aid kit and then the parents of this member walked by and helped us too. We couldn't pry it out of his hand and so we called an ambulance. It broke my heart it see this boy in so much pain, but the mother was so grateful that we got help and asked what church we were from. We waited until he was safely in the ambulance and then the mother came and talked to us and said please give me your card, I want to bring my daughter to church and maybe you can come meet with me and a family I know that is in need. I was incredibly grateful for the opportunity to do just a little bit of service and see that Heavenly Father really needed us there.

I love this church! I know the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and that he is mindful of all of us!

Take care and have a good week,
Hermana Alayna Nelson

PS: Happy mother's day to all the wonderful moms and examples that have blessed my life! Talk to you next week!
PPS: Don't I look like snow white today, it was an accident, but then we needed to take a picture of this beautiful accident. Much Loves :)

HOLY HOT HOMELESS HORSES!

(Written Monday, April 20, 2015)

Dear wonderful friends and family,

How different this area is for me! MY GOODNESS! So many changes! I received my trainee (baby) Wednesday evening and her name is Hermana Stark, She is from Auburn Alabama but doesn't have an accent and she loves cats like me, so we bonded fast obviously. She was at BYU for a bit and she is planning on going into computer science so she can be an animator for Pixar. So that's pretty cool!

My baby <3

So to talk about this area more, I was "born" in a fairly wealthy area in Henderson, Nevada. I am now in a place called Sunrise Manor (I believe) and it's more north east and boy is it a change! Probably 80% of the people here are Spanish speakers (which is really good for me!) The first person I talked to in the street was a homeless man named Gino going through a trash can to find aluminum cans to get money for them. He was really friendly though. And there are essentially Mexican Cowboys that ride their horses by the side of the road! It's quite the interesting place! Lots of GIANT CACTI! It's more desert here, and more rural and slightly rundown. I live near a street called Hollywood, but it looks nothing like Hollywood here and of course, the heat is starting to move in which will be so fun (sarcasm)

But the most exciting thing is that the Las Vegas Temple is in my area and only about 5-10 minutes away from our apartment! Last night, we went to try to visit everyone and when we finished all of our plans and still had time, I decided to show Sister Stark the temple site. It is so beautiful at night and the spirit is so strong and peaceful there. I know that the temples are the houses of the Lord on the Earth and the closest place we can be to Him here. I am so grateful for the peace it brings to be so close.

Angel Moroni on our Beautiful Temple

I feel so strongly that we are going to see so many miracles in this area, the ward we are serving in is incredible! They are so ready to help us and so nice! There are so many ready people here! There are lots of crazy changes to get used to, but I know that Heavenly Father is serving here with us just like he promises us in Jacob chapter 5. I love my mission and I am so grateful to be here!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Hermana Alayna Nelson

Please check out the blog for more pictures! There are lots this week!

Of course, you can find a little piece of redneck heaven here in Vegas #Murica

I'M HAVING A BABY WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE HAPPY

(Written Monday, April 13, 2015)

Hopefully that got your attention.

I hope you are all doing wonderful! This week we learned what is going to happen, where we are going to go and who our new companion will be. My companion Sister Hutchinson is staying here with another sister. This is Sister Hutchinson's last six weeks and then she is done and goes home from her mission. A joke that all missionaries have is that her new companion is her "murderer" and "kills" her off because she goes home. Just like we have murderers, we also have mothers and fathers in the mission. I have been asked to train a brand new missionary straight from the training center in Mexico where I was for 6 weeks before coming here. This is a big responsibility and I don't feel ready to "have a child". I feel too young in the mission for this, but Heavenly Father is showing me that He trusts me. I will also be moving to a brand new area with my new companion and have to get the hang of everything with her. The area I am moving to is called Los Feliz (which means "The Happy"). It will be near the temple here in Vegas so that will be very exciting, but I am in the dark as to what is going to happen there. This week will be full of surprises for me and my new trainee. But I am looking so much forward to it. I don't know who she is yet, but I will find out on Monday and then I get to hope that I can be a good mom, so if any of you have trained before, advice would be very appreciated!

But that is about the most exciting thing from this week, there are some other pictures that will be on the blog. I know this is Heavenly Father's work and that no matter where we go, the message is the same and so is the Spirit. The gospel will continue to go forth!

I was feeling really nervous this morning about this responsibility and I was worried that I wouldn't know what I was doing and I was reading the scriptures and read this:  

"For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward. Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward."

This scripture brought me a lot of comfort, Heavenly Father isn't going to do it for me because he wants me to grow too and it will be so much better for me in the end. So if I am doing good things and doing my best to train this girl well, "much righteousness" will be brought to pass.
I love you all and will tell you all about "my daughter" next Monday.
I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you so much!

Have a great week!
Hermana Alayna Nelson

Driving with Sister Hutchinson  

I know this is blurry but his jacket says soldiers for Jesus and I just thought it was sweet.  How funny!   

The Sweet Lopez family that I was so sad to say bye to!

Octopus, New Years, Temples and Miracles!

(Written Monday, January 5, 2015)

FELIZ ANO NUEVO everybody!!!!

What a great week this has been! I got free sandwiches last week from a little place called Great Harvest. It is owned by a member of the church so they feed poor missionaries for free :)

Also, I want to share with you a really great experience I had this week.  I got to go to the Las Vegas Temple this week.

It was so incredibly peaceful and beautiful besides the crazy cold weather! (I can't believe how cold it gets here in such a hot place! I have been freezing!!!) The temple is so important to the Mormon faith because it is the way that we can do work for our ancestors who have passed on. We can be baptized vicariously for them since they cannot do it for themselves and make so many other wonderful covenants with our loving heavenly father. It is the place where we can be married and sealed to our families not just "til death do us part" but even after this life so that we can live with God again. When we teach this lesson, it is called the Plan of Salvation or the Plan of Happiness from God. It was a cleansing experience for me and so special and beautiful and sacred and I am so thankful to have the house of the Lord (temples) on the earth today where we can be closer to him than any other place. I love this gospel and the hope and joy that it brings and if you are interested in learning more about your ancestors and where you came from or more about this plan, you can visit mormon.org and learn more about the Plan of Happiness and you can visit familysearch.org which is a free (and very amazing) website to do family history on (in my opinion it's better than ancestry. I have used them both but this one is better AND free!)

After having this experience, we were able to share it as well as a Priesthood Blessing with one of our families (the Rodriguez family--Rosa, Cathy, Bryan and Mateo) and they are so excited to go to the temple and do research about their ancestors and get baptized! There are so many miracles that come from having temples all over the world. They are a refuge from all the bad things of the world and I am so grateful to have one so close and to be able to go so frequently!
As New Years has just passed, my companion and I had to be in our house by 6pm and stay for the rest of the night on New Years Eve for safety reasons. We got Panda Express and opened fortunes, tried to get caught up in our journals, drank sparkling cider and listened to beautiful church music. We also set goals for this upcoming year and how we want to change ourselves to be better followers of Jesus Christ. With this New Year, did you make any spiritual goals? I know that dieting is a common one and that requires mental and physical strength, but how do you plan to increase your spiritual strength this year? For me and my companion, we set a different goal for each month of something specific we want to be better at and you WILL be able to see the change in your life as you do this. I hope that you all will add some spiritual goals to your list, whether it be attend church more or read the scriptures for five minutes everyday and I promise you that you will see so many blessings in your life as you do these things! I hope you all have a fabulous week and that all your goals are going well so far!

Trying the octopus that Gabe sent me, right before I couldn't take it anymore and spit it all out! It was so gross, I almost threw up!

Thank you all so much for the letters and packages! They make my soul happy! I will write back very soon, there just isn't a lot of free time, but that just means that I am working hard to do what Heavenly Father needs me to do, but don't worry! I haven't forgotten any of you! Check out the blog for some other really cool pictures! I learned how to make homemade tortillas this week and I am a pro with the technique and everything! I'll be making those when I get home!

Love you all,
Sister Alayna Nelson!


This video looks like it's filmed in Indiana and it's about a dad and how he works for his kids and its beautiful and I want everyone to know that God loves them personally and wants to help them this year!

Temples (Written by Ashley)

I noticed when we first looked at the Las Vegas, Nevada Temple that it looked strikingly similar to the temple where I served my mission in Johannesburg, South Africa.

See for yourselves...

Las Vegas Nevada Temple

Plans to construct the temple were announced 7 April 1984, Church leaders broke ground 30 November 1985, and President Gordon B. Hinckley, then a member of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, dedicated the Las Vegas Nevada Temple 16 December 1989.

 Johannesburg South Africa Temple

Plans to construct the temple were announced 1 April 1981, Church leaders broke ground 27 November 1982, and President Gordon B. Hinckley, then a counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, dedicated the Johannesburg South Africa Temple 24 August 1985.