Week 2 is already over

This week went by really fast! Monday was one of the funnest P-days I've had in a while, I don't even know why we just messed around and shopped and I convinced Sister King to buy a cute 30 dollar dress and she did and was regretting it the rest of the day but she wore it yesterday and it was SUPER CUTE. but it was really fun, we went to clean our truck and the people who cleaned their car before us washed a whole load of HORSE POOP off their vehicle, so we were leaping around piles of horse poop trying not to step in it while we were cleaning our truck. On Tuesday we were in Dove Creek, that special place, and had a lesson with one of the less-active members there named james, who is the epitome of Dove Creek. Mid-lesson he coughed up this huge lougie (lugie?) anyway you know what I'm trying to say, anyway ya mid-lesson he hacks it up and spits it over the deck, SO NASTY but Sister King and I were dying of laughter, luckily he has 0 shame so he was too. We also picked up a new investigator named Liz, she is super nice and a sweet lady. Both of her daughters are members, so hopefully she can make some good progress! 

On Wednesday it SNOWED. SNOWED SO MUCH. LIKE A FOOT. heard it snowed there too? we weren't expecting that much snow so we were definitely not dressed for the weather, Sister King was wearing this cute but not fit for snow canvas shoes, her feet were soaking wet all day. It just snowed and snowed and snowed. but anyway we finally got to see Aleighya (Amalios cousin who wants to be baptized but her family situation isn't permitting that right now) and she is so sweet, I haven't seen her since like February, Sister Dowd never even met her! So it was good to see her again. We also got to do a missionary mutual with the 3rd ward this week, the kids did a great job and it was fun to hear them teach and learn. Hopefully at least one of the kids gets something out of that, we had fun doing it though.

 On our way home Wednesday night we experienced a pure miracle. So we live in the middle of nowhere, on a dirt road that nobody drives down, surrounded by open field so the snow blows from the fields right onto the road, so the snow is even DEEPER on the road, and it has no tracks so we have no idea what to expect. Anyway, we were driving home Wednesday night and the snow was a lot deeper than we though, but we couldn't like stop or turn around or anything so we just keep trekking to Sister Codners, and then we started drifting and sliding, right towards a ditch. My only though while i clung to the steering wheel was "i really don't want to sleep in the truck tonight" and Sister King was absolutely silent as we slowly started to drift, then by the sweet grace of God i somehow corrected ourselves and we were able to dip into the ditch but pull right back out, don't even ask how our tires got traction or how I, as the non-pro driver I am, was able to correct us out of there, but we were slipping and sliding but made it safely home. We were both so stunned and then started laughing because it was terrifying, but still. made it safe. gotta sleep in my nice warm bed. on 

Thursday we had district meeting, where we eat PJ's after District meeting for lunch. and THEN some members took us out to dinner and we were gonna eat at a different restaraunt but it was too busy so we went to Pj's, and Sister King and I had foolishly gotten PJ's the day before for lunch, so we had pj's 3 times in 2 days. it was terrible,. we are scarred form Pj's right now.

 on Friday we finally saw the Hickmans again! AND SO EXCITING THING HAPPENED: so Amber (the only member in the family) told us they would probably never come to church, so i think i told you a while ago we invited them to pray about church and were worried they would kick us out or something. but anyway, we asked if they had been doing that on Friday, and Amber told us she had been thinking A LOT about coming to church, and that she wants to discuss it with her family! IT WAS AMAZING i love this fmaily tons and church would bless them so much. so i was internally freaking out but hopefully the spirit continues to work on her. Sister Codners daughters came for a daughters weekend this weekend, they are all just as sassy as Sister Codner. Nancy(whos son i graduated with) should be bringing a package to you sometime mama:) anyway, they cleaned out the entire pantry and got us a new fridge to satisfy Sister Codner ( so now we have a nice new fridge) and it was fun to see Sister Codner so happy.

 ON Saturday we ate with the Helquists again, their experiencing some challenges which always breaks my heart but hopefully things will get better. We went mudding kinda because we have an investigator who lives on a road off the highway and its all dirt and rocks, so we drove through giant mud puddles and our truck looks nasty. even the Elders were like where did you even go, they are jealous because our truck looks cooler than theirs. just kidding we are washing it today. Sunday was a normal Sunday, hope Ian had a happy birthday! Sounds like you did. and now Monday again. already week 3 of the transfer, time is flying. anyway thats the week, it was a good one. luckily spring weather is back so I'm enjoying letting my pale pale legs get sunlight.

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH

love,

Sister Nilsson

Already Halfway through May?

I can't believe its already May 15. Mothers day was aamammamaaazzziinnngggg, made me very very happy to see you all. glad to see you are all doing well and life is good:) This week has been good! again, sorry i wont have a lot of pictures to send, I'll make it up next week. :) But yes, so Monday was Sister Dowds last day in Monticello, so of course the Helquists had a big BBQ with their whole extended family. It was really hard for Sister Dowd to leave, I don't want to have to do it. But all a part of mission life. So that was fun, we had a good time and had a good lesson with one of our investigators so all was well on Monday. 

On Tuesday we were off to Farmington to swap, Sister Dowd was a little nervous and her stuff was super heavy but we got everything packed in the truck and ready to ride. I got to see Sister Hillam in Farmington, she is now serving in the Farmington YSA ward! She was excited, sad to leave Cortez and now I don't have any connections there anymore but luckily I will see the Cortez sisters at Zone Conference so I can bother them about the work there. Sister Dowd was off with Sister Anderson and Sister King joined me, it's always fun to adjust to a new companion. It's even more fun when the adjustment phase is over and you're just good friends. Sister King and I get along really well, we broke that adjustment phase pretty quick. it was POURING rain in Dove Creek and Eastland Tuesday night, and her bags were in the bed of the truck and she didn't want them to get wet, so we pulled off on the side of the highway and in the mud and pouring rain tried to shove her huge bags into the back of the truck. It seriously looked like we had taken a shower by the time we got it all situated and hopped back in the truck. We should have taken a  picture, but it was really funny. 

Sister King is really easy going and fun, so rather than that being a terrible experience we were laughing the whole time,good way to break new companion ice. Sister Codner was excited to have another new sister, she never remembers our names but loves us still. on Wednesday i hit 9 months! So weird to me, already halfway. The last half will go by even faster! But Wednesday was good, Sister King is a hard worker and its so fun to work hard. She is a confident quiet which is fun, it's teaching me how to enjoy and embrace silence in lessons, it will take me a minute but I'll adjust and figure it out. :) on Thursday we got to see Amalio, he has officially finished the Book of Mormon and is going to start round 2! he even compared the events towards the end of the Book of Mormon (everyone killing each other and sadness) to the beginning of the Great Apostasy (when the priesthood was off the Earth) and I haven't even made that connection yet. He was so sweet, he gave us an extra thank you towards the end of the lesson and expressed his gratitude for missionaries. he says "people dont recognize how hard you guys work and I really appreciate it, because it probably isn't easy" SO SWEET we were exploding inside.

 We also FINALLY saw Courtney (Raylees dad) (Raylees an 11 year old investigator who was on date for baptism) and we had to lay down the law and tell him church needed to be a bigger priority in order for Raylee to be baptized. So it was really hard to take Raylee off of baptismal date, but it's better for her. I probably won't be here to see her get baptized which makes me sad, but I hope everything gets sorted out so Raylee can have that support. Courtney agreed and understood what he needed to do. So that is good. Saturday we had our Helquist dinner, SIster King enjoyed it and loves them already of course. Charlie is trying to think of a name for his glass business but nobody is creative enough for him. I used to be creative but now I"m only creative in gospel aspects. then of course, skyping on Sunday was amazing! It was hard to not think about it all day! But we knocked out some fun lessons on Sunday and then I got to see my amazing family. Thank you for all your support and love, I miss you every day but I looovee being a missionary. Stay safe and heatlhy and all that good stuff, I love you!

Love,

Sister NIlsson

Transfer #7

time is going faster and faster, i hit 9 months in 2 days and that is really bizarre to me, I love being a missionary. can't believe second skype is on Sunday! we have it schedule in for around 4:00. so be ready at that time. :) so excited! hopefully i wont have "chocolate" on my face again. but this week was good! I can't believe it's already May? How in the world did that happen?

 anyway, on Tuesday SIster Codner took Missy to the vet (she had been drinking an excessive amount of water) and Missy has DIABETES! who knew dogs could even get diabetes? The beauty of it all is that now we have to give Missy 2 shots every day! and Sister Codner does not enjoy shot giving. so this will be an adventure for us all. on Wednesday we went to Cortez for Zone Conference, which was amazing as always. I got to see Sister Withers and Sister Hillam! Lots of fun to see my companions, they are doing well. we also had interviews with President, where he basically told me what was going to happen this next transfer, Which transfer news is: Sister Dowd is being transferred to Kirtland New Mexico! She has been having health struggles so they want to move her closer to Farmington. We've done our exchanges in Kirtland, so she is familiar with where she is going, and her new companion, Sister Anderson. 

We will be heading to Farmington tomorrow afternoon where I will pick up my new companion. Her name is Sister King and I'm pretty sure she's been out just a transfer ahead of me. She was companions with Sister Hillam and Sister Hillam loves her, I've met her like twice and she seems sweet, so I"m excited. I'm really excited to work super hard an just go go go go go go, which I'm sure President is relieved because I kept on telling him how much I just wanted to work work work and I can't even count how many times he's rolled his eyes at me. Glad he gets my sense of humor. Thursday was a sick day for Sister Dowd, as was Friday. Luckily it was pretty nice outside so I helped Sister Codner weed. She has a HUGE garden and we were out there for like 3 1/2 hours. i was sore the next day and she wans't even. she is a warrior. Nancy Head and her family (Sister Codners daughter whose son i graduate with) came up this weekend, it was fun seeing them. Nancy is really nice and always cleans the house super spotless and has neat food ideas, so i like talking to her and getting new food ideas.

 We also had dinner with the Helquists on Saturday, Charlie is doing much better!:) He talks about how much the missionaries have been a help to him, which I wish we could do more fo rhim but we can't really. pray basically and send him scriptures and eat dinner every satruday with him and Trish. Trish is doing good too<3 oh exciting miracle, i have been praying AL WEEK for a new investigator (our finding has slowed down) and lo and behold on Sunday night we were blessed to find a cute little couple and their little boy who let us share a message! They don't believe in God (yet) so minor setbacks, but it was so exciting to receive a nice answer to a prayer:) hmm i thought i had more to email about, but guess not.  

love you all very much

love,

Sister Nilsson

8 months today. how.

Hello part people what goes on. This week went by pretty quick! It was a good week! Last Monday we actually got into some houses we havent' been able to get into for a long while, so that was exciting. One of the ladies is a native and she is dating a married man who is too lazy to get divorced, so in order for her to be baptized, there are some hurdles we will have to jump through but I'm not worried :)
We have been working hard in our units so hopefully something good comes of it. On Tuesay we had another lesson with our new investigator in Dove Creek. Sister Dowd got to extend her first baptismal invitation and she did such a fantastic job! She is becoming more and more confident everyday, its fun to watch her grow. Our investigator said he still needs some time to learn and read and pray before he accepts a baptismal date but we are working with him and have good high hopes.

On Wednesday we had phone problems, our phone had zero service so we made trips back and forth from the church phone to Darlene's phone. It was kind of nice to not be able to text and confirm appointments, then the people couldn't take the easy way out, by texting and cancelling. Now they either had to tell us over the phone or when we showed up in person, its harder for people to do it then. This phone should be broken more often.

We also got 2 new investigators in teh 1st ward this week (truly a miracle, we have had zero the entire going on 4 months here) so we were really excited about that. On Thursday we had a meeting with A----, he is doing wonderful and it going to the temple to do baptisms on Wednesday! It was so funny, he had to work on Sunday so he missed watching General Conference, and he knew we were going to ask about it so he was super nervous the whole week. We actually saw him briefly on Wednesday night and just said hi, and he was so relieved because he thougth we were going to ask him how he enjoyed conference so he stayed up til 1 am on Wednesday watching it, and he loved it! HIs favorite speaker was the one who talked about his conversation (I forgot his name), which was funny because that guy basically sounded just like A---. Honestly wouldn't be surprised if A--- was up there someday.
On Friday we tracted into a nice old lady who repeated the same story 10x so that was fun. On Saturday we went to  relief society  activity that was actually a lot of fun. Then had dinner with the Helquists, classic navajo tacos, their cute grandson, cute puppy, and we got to look through their scrapbooks. Which was the best thing ever. They are so cute. I just love them.

Sunday was H---'s baptismal interview! We had a few scares because he was involved in a poaching incident, we had to call President to make sure all was clear, but all is well and H--- is well on his way to baptism.
Today we went on a district hike in the Canyonlands! It was sooo much fun, we just drove through Canyonlands, stopping at different sites and hiking around, reminded me of stuff we would do. Got some good photos I'll be sending. My district is pretty fun. We manage to have some fun here in Utah.
I love you all and hope you have a good week!
Love, Sister Nilsson

First Sister-Witherless Week

Hello! This week went by both slow and fast. I feel like I was jjust told that I'd get a picture of Ian's hair "next week" but now that week has come! His hair looks wonderful by the way. I was telling dad, I did like showing everybody my super hairy younger brother, they thougth it was gross but I thought it was amazing. Ian I'm so proud of you, keep rockign it. Anyway, back to my week.

This week was good! Monday was pretty fun, we ate dinner with the Helquists for Sister Wither's last hoorah, and we got to witness "redneck vet". Basically the Helquists have like 5 hound dogs and one of them ate some kind of  a sticker called cheat grass and it gets stuck inside their mouth and can get infected so Brother Helquist being Brother Helquist, had us come watch as he held his sweet pup on the bed of his gruck and cut open the infection slightly with a RAZOR BLADE and let the infection pour out, which I thought was going to be more scarring than it was, but the dog was super tough and didn't even whimper. Always something at the Helquists.

Anyway we had delicious food as always, and we had to say our goodbyes (well, Sister Withers had to) and then we were off to drop her off in Cortez. We saw a rockin' double rainbow which was nice, a Monticello goodbye to Sister Withers. It was super sad to see her go, we've become pretty close and I consider her to be a close friend.

The trip home was weird, I spent 6 weeks chilling in the back of the truck and now I get to drive around Monticello and try to figure out where people live because nobody believes in actual addresses around here.

Tuesday was a Dove Creek day, and it was pretty long. We spent a majority of the day knocking on doors and getting no results, which makes the hours draaag. It was also super rainy/snowy so then it wasn't even enjoyable to be outside. But we pressed on. We did get to have a lesson with one of our new investigators, S---. It was so amazing! He had so many questions, and all of them aligned perfectly with the message of Restoration, so we answered all his questions and he was excited to learn more and read the Book of Mormon. He's very willing and recognizes the necessity to make time, which I wish all of my investigators recognized that.

I don't know if you got my letter, but we ate lunch in Dove Creek and met the infamous 'mustache lady' we've been hearing about in Monticello. I wrote more about her in my letter, basically the moral of the story is both Sister Dowd and I really lost our appetite after she served our food. We got to see R---- again. She's doing well and is still preparing for baptism on June 3. Her dad keeps bailing on our meetings with him which is frustrating and her mom we finally asked if she would be willing to learn again and she said no. But I have faith she'll come around.

On Thursday we saw A---- again, he'll be doing baptisms for the dead next week!

On Friday it snowed which was depressing but we now get to use the Easter Initiative in our missionary work which is exciting! Have you seen the video, Prince of Peace? Its really good.

On Saturday we got to watch Conference at Darlene's house, it was really good! Sunday was the best of all though, I have been praying really hard about the Book of Mormon lately, mainly because I'ver never really received that promised witness that its true, and i've been really hard-core studying it, I've read it like twice on my mission and am halfway through my 3rd round and i'm really markign it up and loving it. But I really wanted to know that it was true so I could teach and testify of it with more sincerity and confidence. and what was the one thing our prophet spoke on? The Book of Mormon. THE BOOK OF MORMON. Out of alll the topics he could have chosen, Heavenly Father inspired him to speak on the Book of Mormon. Talk about answer to prayers and solid spiritual witness that not only the Book of Mormon is ture, but that Joseph Smith is a prophet, we have a prophet who speaks to God today, but that truly the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Christ's church and gospel back on teh Earth.

We've been experiencing a lot of people, specifically who have become 'too smart' for the church. This one guy especially basically has let questions that can't really be answered and doubts completely soil his testimony. Listening to him talk and ask his unanswerable and controversial questions just makes my heart hurt, all I know is please NEVEREVERVER become like this guy. Its so sad to see how the adversary can really pull people so far away from the truth. Dont let doubts and 'too deep' of questions pull you away and make you forget everything you've experienced.

I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week and be safe and enjoy everything you'll be doing :)
favorite conference quotes:
"Let us love one anohter completely, that no one feels abandonded, alone, and helpless" -Renlund
"Don't burden yourself with constant fear" "He wants you to be not afraid, only believe" -Uchtdorf
"Love should never be withdrawn if someone doesn't reach your expectations" - Palmer

New Transfer!

it's officially day 1 of my 6th transfer! at the end of this transfer, i'll be like 3 days from my halfway point. what is happening? time is going way too fast, it's all a blur. We received transfer news on Saturday, Sister Withers will be step-training (training is a span of 2 transfers, so her trainee has already been a missionary one transfer) in Durango, CO which was in my zone when I was in Cortez. I've been there a good amount of times, its really pretty there and super green and stuff. Lots of hippies and college kids, there's a college there. A bit different from Monticello, not as small-town and mormon, that's for sure! It should be good for her. Sister Dowd and I will be staying here in Monticello, I will be finishing her training, it should be fun! I'm a little nervous, Sister WIthers was a nice peace-maker and Sister Dowd and I can have our moments, but nothing a little talking and food can't fix. I'm also super nervous to basically take over Monticello, I'm not that confident in my way around and the people yet, even though I've been here for 2 transfers I really should be pretty confident, but alas here I sit very stressed and a little overwhelmed, but time will fix it I'm sure. It will be an interesting couple of days, Sister Dowd will adjust to having one companion (all she's ever known is our trio power) and she will have to talk a lot more. So that means I will get to talk less. So it will be a challenge for the both of us. The problem is I will have to allow awkward silence to give Sister Dowd a chance to think of what to say and such, which makes me cringe but she is really excited to work on becoming more outgoing and social! President teases me about how much I talk, so I think he's excited to see how this will work out. Hopefully I can be a good companion and helper for Sister Dowd as she strives to reach her goals.

 This week seriously went by SOOOOO fast. on Tuesday we picked up another new investigator in Dove Creek, which again, miracle. His name is S----, we met him as we were walking to an appointment, he was out watering his lawn so of course we went to go talk to him. He was super open and asked wonderful questions that we answered and he was excited to learn more. We'll be seeing him tomorrow. We also eat these really good pulled pork sandwhiches at the sinclair, and Sister Withers was trying to ask the man who smokes the meat for us what his name was, and he replied it was "herman smergley" which SHE BELIEVED HIM and of course me not filtering what I say laughed and said "is that really your name?" luckily he was kidding and it was definitley a fake name, but it was funny to watch Sister Withers react to that name and try not to cringe at what a dumb name it was. we laughed about that all week. on Wednesday we FINALLY got to see R--- again. she was in texas last week so it was so long without her. and her little brother and my favorite human, C---. He's 8, have i talked about him before? he's such a little stinker I love him. We also had DELICIOUS ribs cooked by a member from Hawaii, he's gonna cook us kalua pork next time:) 

AH on Thursday I witnessed the most scarring thing on my mission- a dog get hit by a car! Remember that dog that peed on me like my first week in Monticello? ya he was running across the street and he just got straight up hit by this truck! Luckily i closed my eyes and plugged my ears fast enough, but still heard it all:( LUCKKILY again, hes alive, just has some stitches and is pretty beat up:( a very scarring day for Sister Nilsson, even Sister Withers and Sister Dowd were pretty shaken up and they selectively like dogs, they don't love them like I do. on Friday 

we had a wonderful lesson with our part-member family, the Hickmans. they told us they would "probably" never come back to church, but we taught a powerful lesson on the Atonement and then tied in how we remember the Atonement through the sacrament, then BAM invitation to come to church. and they didn't totally deny it. they promised they would pray and council as a family, which was better than what I expected, so we are excited to see their progress. THey need a little bit of a push and need to recognize that we as misssionaries don't just come and give a nice little message and leave. we have expectations, well I guess the Lord has expectations and they are very capable of doing these things that will bless their life. I love them, hopefully they understand that. anyawy, off soap box. On Saturday

 we had another dinner with the Helquists! it was a huge family gathering, we had elk/deer/beef fajitas, tons of salads and fruit and EVERYTHING, then DELICIOUS blueberry and apple dutch oven cobbler<3 it was SO MUCH FUN and we were so happy, C---- even set up an entire "redneck scene" for us to take pictures with, I will be sure to send those to you:) Saturday was also when we received the call about Sister Withers leaving, we are sad but excited for her. Sundaywas a normal day. we ate dinner with Darlene  on Sunday, then had a rockin' lesson with our investigator H----. It was a good week, fast, and now a new transfer. We'll be traveling to Cortez tonight to drop off Sister Withers, then the week will be me and Sister Dowd! Wish us luck! Hopefully all will be well, I'm sure it will be great:)
I love you all so much! I hope you are enjoying your week and having fun and being safe and everything. Sounds like you're all doing well, stay strong and enjoy family time and everything:) I miss you but also LOVE SO MUCH being a missionary. Enjoy every day, enjoy conference (can't believe its already my second General Conference on the mission!) (only 1 left) and we will be skyping before you know it! hopefully i dont have "chocolate" on my face this time, but no promises.

Love,

Sister Nilsson

Miracles!

Hello! This week went by super fast. mission time is weird because the days are long but the weeks fly by. I feel like i was just typing last week on the computer. But today was so amazing! I'll write about it towards the end. 

Anyway, the beginning of the week was a little slow. Monday nothing exciting, Tuesday was a slow morning in Dove Creek. We got to eat at the sinclair, they actually have really good smoked meat there! So we got some pulled pork sandwiches and milkshakes, but i got too full so Sister Withers pulled a Quinn and drank basically 2 milkshakes cause she didn't want to waste food. It was impressive, I can't believe she did that. made me sick to watch her. But ya, we ate at a gas station, just like home. really good though! we'll try it when we take a tour of my mission, since it's a mere 4 1/2 hours away:) 

On Wednesday we experienced a MIRACLE! there is this less active man named J--- who has really struggled with drug addiction,. last week he randomly came to sacrament, bore his testimony, and declared he is going to turn his life around. So everybody and their dogs found us and was like "you have to go visit J---!" so of course we tried to see jared on wednesday. We went up to his house and he was in the garage, listening to some really loud rap music so that was nice. Anyway, when we got his attention he turned to look at us, he had a cigarette in one hand and a can of beer in the other. He then just was like "i cannot believe you are here, this has been an awful day and I've been 35 days sober and i relapsed today" yada yada yada then he said "out of all the days to come to my house, you chose today" and also turns out his sister (Jenny Phillips) (famous mormon singer) called him today, as well as his sponsor for AA to make sure he was coming to his meetings, so he took it as a really big sign from Heavenly Father that He was aware of him and loved him. So that was amazing to watch J--- piece together Heavenly Fathers mysterious ways, he was happy to see us but had to go to AA so we set up an appointment. Which we tried him again, he wasn't home but his less-active wife was. She was very nice but talked about how she lacked a testimony and didn't like to pray because she felt guilty for asking Heavnely father for something and not giving him anything in return. Anyway, she actually got pretty emotional and we were able to bear solid testimony and challenged her to say a prayer asking Heavenly father how he felt about her. 

We haven't heard back, but she really liked the idea and seemed really open. So hopefully we are able to help the family. J--- came to church on Sunday and seemed to enjoy himself and really pay attention. on Thursday we met a guy who talked for a solid hour about mules, an hour of my life i'll never get back, apparently mules are better than horses? kinda stopped listening after a while. Monticello is full of either cowboys, rednecks, or ranchers. and everybody here is missing fingers. weird stuff. On Friday i hit my 7 MONTH MARK, which where in the world did that come from? Still can't believe that, I feel like i was just emailing about my 6th. time flies. and we knocked doors ALL NIGHT and came up with nothing. all in a days work. on Saturday we had dinner with the Helquists (my favorite people) and we WENT UP THE MOUNTAIN and had a camp fire and roasted turkey (the most amazing turkey i've ever had) and dutch oven cobbler and we smelled like camp fire the rest of the day and it was beautiful. it was so fun! they had a lot of C---'s family with us, who are mainly less-active but in the elders area. but it was a good exposure for them, we got to share a message that they all seemed to really enjoy. C--- comes from super active parents, so i think they really appreciate us. We also got sucked into a random service activity, helping a native family move. their house reeked of cat pee, not as bad as Helens so luckily i have been de-sensitized, but still not enjoyable. the elders were there as well, until one elder bent down to pick up a box and heard the ripping of seams, something no elder wants to hear. so they had to go change. we also got to have lunch with  Darlene, she got us all of this stuff to make spaghetti, it was a lot of fun just eating with her. She's so cute. On Sunday we got to give talks in 3rd ward. That was fun, it's nice to have 3 of us because we can take up less time each, I know the bishopric appreciates when we can speak on a minutes notice, but luckily they told us on Wednesday.

and then TODAY we went to the mountain again with the Helquists! they took us to all these pretty lookout points, which i will send pictures of, then we went to this little spot where they usually "bear camp" (camp for when they are hunting bears), roasted marshmallows, hot dogs (gross but i ate them anyway) and chatted. Their son, Hunter and his friend Curtis were there too, and i have officially learned the difference between a redneck and a hillbilly. They gave me the whole rundown on how to identify them. Basically i was hanging out with rednecks all morning, they are the best. i'll send pictures:)

This week we have interviews and zone conference! so i'll get to go to Cortez on Wednesday and see my friends:) ALSO, i just read an email from Sister hillam that said Alexis and Syann (2 investigators we had been teaching forever in cortez) are on date for baptism APRIL 22! best birthday gift ever! i am so excited for them!:):) Oh also, R---- and I made a deal this week that if i run for 10 minutes every morning, she'll read for 10 minutes every morning. So Sister Nilsson is getting fit. 

i think thats all for the week, thanks for your emails and support. i love you! i hope your week is wonderful, please stay SAFE and stuff. LOVE YOU!

LOVE,

SISTER NILSSON

Sister Withers pounding 2 milkshakes

this woman called the canned bean company this week because she found a stem in her can

the endless food treasure of Dove Creek

morning run

lunch with Darlene

BBQ in the mountains!