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Sunday, October 26, 2014

September 2, 2014

Hello family!

Man. Lake powell sounded like a perfect trip. Bummed I missed it but it will be there next year! You better post some pictures that I can glance at! Did you see my birthday party pictures Diego posted? Hmm so I will tell you about my week. I wrote about it in my letter but I can tell you about in in here too. I got to work with Sister Hansen and Sister Kunz in Latham for 3 days and it was lots of fun! I got to meet a lot of awesome members and investigators over there and the sisters are so fun. I loved being able to work with them for 3 days too because we are a lot closer now. We get to see each other at district meeting every week but being companions for 3 days helped us bond a lot more. So the exchange took up the majority of my week haha. Sister Hansen leaves this transfer and throughout her mission she has made scrapbooks of it. I looked through them and they were so cool! I hope I can remember everything important about my mission so I can make fun scrapbooks too! Its been super hot this week. Wearing only one layer is even too hot for me. I guess I know what its like to live somewhere humid now. I prefer hot humid to cold humid but its still not super fun to be out in. We had a party last night for one of our investigators who successfully stopped smoking for a week. It was fun! Sister Yu is going to be going back to Salt Lake soon and everyone thinks I'm going to be training next transfer. That would be really fun but who knows if it will happen. I will keep you posted. Yeah the members up here are really great. They are all so willing to go teaching with us a drive us around and do everything for us! Its crazy! and they do it without even making it look like an inconvenience. We could miss our bus to get back home and call a member at 9 pm and they would be completely willing to come take us home. But. Since I am now in the capital of New York, I will probably be able to find ya'll some really awesome authentic new york christmas presents :) totally off topic but i just remembered that. But yeah, just make sure to be a good mormon to the missionaries out there! They run into about a million mormons a day but it really is nice as a missionary to find people who are polite and treat you like you're important. But whenever people get me down I just think of all the awesome missionaries I get to serve with, all the wonderful people I have met, and the fact that God is always with me and wants me to succeed. September may be a boring month for you but its looking to be a good one for us! yes! Letters and packages! hmm requests...pictures :) and idk skirts if you can find any? just stuff that makes me feel loved :) and don't forget to include something for my companion as well :) I love you all and miss you so much!! Have a good week at school :))))

August 25, 2014

hello!

! this week was good! I'm still enjoying my life as a missionary :)

I will tell you something i have learned in this first i guess. Missionary work is hard! I knew it would be hard but it is hard in so many more different ways than I thought it would be. We tracted a lot this week which I enjoy. Everyone knows Jesus Christ loves them and died for them, people do think there are prophets on the Earth, people have valid points as to why they don't want to be involved in a religion. Its hard to have the right thing to say to them because half the fime, I don't even know what they are talking about so I don't have a good answer. I know there are elect people out there who are ready for the gospel and I should be focusing my efforts on them but at the same time, I have to do all within my own power to help others accept the restored gospel. People know a lot more about God and Christ. So don't worry, I'm not having a breakdown or anything haha thats just something i"ve noticed about this week. We also met this nice guy on the street. He just moved here from Iraq with his family about a year ago. We talked with him (the best we could) for a little bit. His english really was not good but somehow we were able to communicate that we wanted to come to his house the next day. So we did and we met his cute family and they live in such a nice clean house and are such nice people. I just think they are so cute and I agreed that we would come over once a week to teach them english. I don't know, maybe hopefully somethign will come of it. I have also realized this week that I have been gone so long!! One year! I keep seeing things that give me flashbacks of Corning and man was I there a long time ago. I'll see you all in 6 months which seems so far and also so soon! I don't even know what to think anymore! Mostly I've just been thinking of how I can not be distracted by anything and just keep being super focused on being a missionary here. I think though that as times goes on and I'm more immersed in this city with the people then I will stop thinking of home. Its always when you enter a new area that you get homesick because you no longer have your church family. I miss Sister Barley. Everyone here is really great though, more time spent with them just has to pass. Also today we have a district activity that will take up like all day so I probably won't get a letter written to you guys! :( sorry:( I will write one for sure next week though! I'm jealous of your lake powell trip, tell me how it goes! Send a picture of pali in his football stuff!! i love you all and miss you a lot!

Love, Sister Quinn Nilsson

August 18, 2014

this week was pretty fun! We had a Zone Training Meeting on Tuesday which was good. The zone is huge and there are a lot of strangers. its so weird to meet lots of missionaries who you think you haven't met because they are old but really, they are young and you are old. So weird. We are teaching this Jamaican guy and the first time we taught him the Plan of Salvation We finished teaching the rest of it and he loves it He doens't really know much about the church besides he knows he needs to join it and he wants to get baptized on his birthday :) We also met a lot of nice people just walking around this week. am pretty confident that we will find people who actually care here. It will just take a little time and continued effort looking. Working with Sister Yu is still great. She laughs when I say things I think are funny so its good. I hope to receive more letters from ya'll. I understand its busy with school starting but really! Ok I got to go now but I love and miss you all! Have a fun last week of summer :))))

August 11, 2014

oh yeah! that tie is for anyone. I found it at a thrift shop we volunteer at and I had to get it. So anyone can wear it. I hope the shirt fits good, I didn't really know which size to get. Yes isn't that bbq sauce amazing? I"m going to buy another bottle of it before I go home. yeah Albany is pretty cool. Its very much a city. Sister Yu is great! She is always on the ball and a super good missionary. Its fun to talk with her about the secrets of Temple Square. She goes back to Salt Lake this upcoming transfer so go to temple square and maybe you will find her! Oh man. If I come home to a dog... So this week was exhausting! I haven't even been here a whole week but I"m so tired haha. this one is bigger than Gouverneur. And Sister Yu will be going back to Salt Lake this transfer so I have to learn the whole area in 6 weeks! I will have to study the maps a lot. We have a good amount of investigators to teach right now so the work is going really well. Sister Yu is a great teacher and is so good at being bold. It sure is hot this time of year too. I put sunscreen on my face and the back of my neck everyday because it is so sunny! I"m glad I got to experience the different extremes of New York. the winter compared to the summer. the small country towns compared to the big ghetto cities. I'm excited for all the people I"m going to continue to meet here. Well I wrote you a pretty good letter so I think this email will suffice for now. I love you all and miss you a lot so keep writing me! Have a good rest of your summer :))

love, sister quinn nilsson

August 4, 2014

hello!

So first news first. I assume you probably saw me doin stuff on facebook. We have just been approved to do internet proselyting so feel no need to continue updating my facebook and whatnot considering i will be taking care of it now.. but yeah. we will be using it as missionaries now so feel free to comment and like any stuff i put up there. i dont really know what i will be putting up there yet...still trying to figure that out. but add all my friends up here! a big purpose of this is to allow the people up here to have support from you guys too! I will tell you more info about it as we continue it. also yes transfers....I am being transferred to Albany! President told me at MLC at I was kind of in shock at first. I really was expecting to stay another transfer but then during the meeting I started feeling nervous about it. I thought it was just because transfer calls were the next day so like the day before a test you get super nervous but I guess it was just the feeling telling me that I would be going. I will be serving with Sister Yu and it's a walk area so I'm stoked! I am very sad to leave Gouverneur because you have seen from my emails and pictures how much I love everything here but I am excited for new things. Gouverneur has so much potential and I'm excited to see the great work Sister Barley and Sister Gochnour are going to do here. There are so many very special people up here that I love so much. Members up here are so dedicated to the gospel and to the truth they've learned. I have loved being able to get to know them and love them. They are definitely people I will be keeping in contact with as life goes on. I've learned a lot about myself and the gospel as I've served here. I have learned that God really does know what He is doing and that He will make things happen when they need to. I have had so many experiences that got me thinking "how did this even happen?" but then I realized that God provides the miracles He needs to for the gospel to reach to everyone. I also learned that he puts my with certain companions who care enough about me to point out my weaknesses out of a desire to help me improve. Sister Barley certainly has done that for me. Her polar oppositeness has helped me see what I want to do less of and what I want to do more of and even though its hard, I know it was a needed thing in my mission. I love you all and miss you and appreciate the letters! Keep them coming please! I love hearing about the goings on in Cottonwood Heights. Tell the Lambs hi and to stay out of trouble.:)

love, Sister Quinn Nilsson