Where did January go?

Hello Sister Nielsen,
 
We have 3 more days of January and I am wondering where the month went.  Things are just crazy busy here.  I still have year end quarterly reports to do, W-2s etc before the end of the year.  I have been very busy at work.  I worked 7 hours on Sat. on GBC things, but did nothing to prepare for my Accounting class I'm teaching this semester nor my tax job.  I get so busy with all these side jobs and my real job, that at times I wonder if it is worth the stress and headaches.
 
Any way, we had a good week, all except for Erin's team losing to Spring Creek on Thursday.  Erin play well, but her offensive game was off.  She was 1 for 4 or 5 from the free throw line and that is the only point she had.  Her rhythm is off or something.  But the good thing is we play Spring Creek again in 2 weeks in Elko, and if we win that game, we win the league as the 2nd game is the tie breaker.  The Elko girls team did not play well at all.  I think they just got out coached and out played. Erin and Cody's team also played Battle Mountain on Tuesday and Erin only had 2 points in that game.  I don't know if her mind was on semester finals, and she had all-state choir tryouts and she really wanted to make that her senior year.  So I believe her mind was on other things or worries and was not into the games which affected her offensive performance.  Cody did not play against BM as they did not need him, and he played against SC and had 2 points.  I think he was 1 for 2 shooting.  He does not look for his shot very much.  But the boys varsity looked awesome against SC.  They came out and blew them away.  It was 37 to 1 with about 3 minutes to go in the 1st half.  The 2nd and 3rd string teams saw alot of action.  The new SC coach was saying, he was wondering if they were ever going to score a basket.  The very 1st time Elko touched the ball in the game, the Elko fans started chanting, "ITS ALL OVER, ITS ALL OVER",  which turned out to be very prophetic.
 
They play Lowry tomorrow in Elko, so that will be another big challenge for the boys team. And then they play White Pine on Friday here in Elko.  I believe they have 2 more weeks of regular season and then the playoffs begin.  So I am looking forward to that.  Erin's picture was in the paper today, for student athlete of the week.  I am not sure what week they were looking at, because it wasn't last week based on her performance in those 2 games.  I just told her, now she can carry the team on her back all the way to a state championship.
 
The weather started to warm up a little this past week.  It got in the low 40's 1 day and all the ice and snow was melting.  But then it snowed again a little over the weekend.  But I believe last week was the 1st time above freezing since before christmas.
 
Every one else is doing well.  Summer, Carly and Adelaide are all growing up and getting bigger.  Adelaide was down stairs the other day, and I asked her what she was doing and she said she was counting Cody's money.  I'm not sure is that is a good thing or a bad thing.
 
Well, we hope you have a great week.  We love getting your letters and hearing about your experiences.  We love having a missionary in the field.  It is great.  Keep working hard and being obedient and the Lord will bless your every action and word.  This gospel is true and sharing it with others is one of the most important thing we can do in this life.  Sharon was saying the other day when I was talking to her, that she read from one of the General Authorities, that the promises made of turning the hearts of the children to their fathers and vice versa, she said we actually made promises to all those who lived on the earth when the truth did not exist that we would do their genealogy work for them.  That those promises are more than the Abrahamic promises.  Which is interesting.
 
We love you, have a great week.
 
Love DAD

Aloha Again!

Aloha Sister Nielsen,

It was great to get your letter.  You really are going to get know that island pretty well.  I guess when ever we go back to visit, we will have our own personal tour guide.  Things are going well here.  It is still extremely cold. At night it gets down to -9 to -16 and the highs are from 8 to 19.  We don't know how long this cold will last, I guess there is a high pressure system and will not move and allow storms to come in and push it out.

Cody and Erin both had games this week.  They played Lowry on Tuesday, the team that beat Codys team in the state championship game last year.  Both Erin and Cody's team won.  Erin had an outstanding game.  She had 19 points.  She made the first 8 points of the game for either side.  Cody played and did well. Cody had 6 points 1 3-pointer and 3 free throws. But he shot an air ball free throw, so he owes the team milk shakes.  Erin could have had 25 points, she only went 3 for 9 from the free throw line.  She was shooting all of them long and cody was shooting all of his short.  But they were good intense games at Lowry. 

Then on Thursday they both played at Ely.  Erin had 8 points and cody did not play.  They rest his knee on games they don't need him.  Both teams won.  Erin said she did not have much energy in the game.  Erin's team came back to Elko and Cody's team continued on down to Las Vegas.  Codys team beat a 4-a school from vegas on Friday and lost on Sat. by 8 points to another 4A school.  Cody only played in the game on Sat.  He had 4 points.  He came back yesterday, and missed church so he went to the late sacrameeting last night.

Grandma Nielsen is doing well.  She does not like to go outside when it is so cold, but I don't either.  I went to Winnemucca this past week to meet with students there and to do a financial aid night.

One student I was meeting with spoke spanish so I was talking to her in spanish.  She asked me where I learned spanish and I told her I served  a mission in Argentina.  I asked her what religion she was and she said she was still trying to find one and was in the search.  I told her before she makes her decision, that she should read the BOM and then make her decision.  I explained to her about the BOM and told her I would get her a copy of the BOM as she said she would like to read it.  She said can I get one here in Winnemucca?  She has a friend that is LDS and I told her she could get a copy from her friend.  Any way, it is amazing how many people out there are searching for the truth but don't know where to find it.

I have today off for Martin Luther King day, but I will work any way.  I have a lot to do.  I am teaching Accounting 202 this semester and it starts tomorrow and I don't have every thing ready yet.  Also, the first week of school it very busy for us.  So this will be a very busy week.  Cody and Erin play Battle Mtn here tomorrow and then they play Spring Creek there on Thursday.  So that will be a huge came for Erin and her team.  The boys are not very good, so Elko should win easily.  Both Erin and Spring Creek are undefeated in league play, so this game is crucial.

Well I hope you have a super week.  Is the windward side of the island on the West side?  I have looked on the map but can not find your locations.  Adelaide and the kids are still as cute as every, just being crazy.  I heard the young single adults branch presidency here in Elko were released and a new branch presidency was called.  Steve Portrey was call as a councilor, and that is all I know so far.  Sister Fine is home now from her mission, but we have not talked with her yet.

The lady I met in Tonopah, I sent her a text, and she said she is reading her scriptures every day, so that is good.  She was suppose to go to church yesterday, so I will send her another text today to find out if she went.

Well, I can't think of any thing else.  We love you and pray for your success.  I hope you and your new companion and new area are doing super well.

Have a super week.

Love Dad

COLD! I wish I was in Hawaii

Hello Sister Nielsen,
 
We were so happy to read your last email and find out that miracles are still happening with the missionary work in Hawaii.  Based on your stories and what happened in your last email, I read the following quotes and it applies to all of us and especially to you and what you are doing.  The quote goes as follows:

"God will put prepared people in the way of His prepared servants who want to share the gospel. You have had that happen in your own life. How often it happens depends on the preparation of your mind and your heart."

-Henry B Eyring

This past week, I went down to Tonopah and Pahrump to meet with financial aid students.  And I had a couple of missionary experiences as well.  In Tonopah, I was originally suppose to go down there with another guy, but I decided it was not worth his time, so I went alone.  The lady who works for GBC in the Tonopah office was there and so we were just making small talk getting to know each other.  She said she moved back from Louisiana to Tonopah so her daughter who is a senior this year could graduate from Tonopah high school.   Her husband is still in Louisiana and will stay there to work.  I made some comment like well that has to be hard, being separated from your husband, etc.  She said well it was kind of a blessing as her father was staying with them and he passed away in late October in Tonopah and now could be buried next to his wife who was buried in Tonopah.  So I said, are you a religious person?  As there is nothing coincidental with the Heavenly Father, he is in charge of everything.  She said that she was raised LDS but had been inactive for many years.  Come to find out she was married and sealed to her ex-husband in the San Diego Temple.  So I said, if you were an endowed member of the church, it is very important for you to get back active in the church.  So said, yes, I know, I have been thinking about it for a while and know I have to get back into the church, but it is hard.  She also told me that one of her brothers had been excommunicated and recently rebaptized and he had told her that he wanted them to do the temple work for their parents as they were not members.  She also said that for Christmas, her aunt from Sacramento, CA had sent her a gift out of the blue, who is an active member of the church, and she gave her the Book of Mormon which was given to her by her grandmother when she was baptized and had her grandmothers testimony in the book. So I told her, well it appears that your Heavenly Father wants you back active in the church, he has given you many signs and hints to get back active.  She said, yes I know.  I also said, "I do not think that it is by accident that I am here today by myself to have this 2 hour discussion with you about the church.  I know I was sent by HF to come talk to you today.  So I said, what are we going to do about it.  I'm not leaving here with just a simple yes, I know I need to get back active in the church.  We need a plan."  And she said, well Tonopah is so small and every one judges you and talks about you.   I told her "there is not a member in the church that does not have faults and things that they are trying to overcome.  I know it will be difficult, but we need to start making steps in that direction."  I said I am involved now, I can't leave you to do this by yourself.  I said I feel like that guy in Titanic movie, if you jump, I jump, I can't leave you.  I got to get you back to safety.  So we decided that she was going to start reading the BOM for 15 minutes a day.  She said this weekend she would be in San Diego but next weekend she promised me she would go back to church.  And I told her, I was going to follow up with her to see how she was doing until eventually we get you back to the temple.  She said she felt really good about our visit and knew I was there for a reason.  Pretty cool huh?
 
Then in Pahrump, I was talking to this black lady who works at GBC down there.  We started talking about religion and I asked her what religion she was.  She said she did not have any particular religion but believed more with the 7th day Adventist as she believes the Sabbath is on the Sat. as it was in olden days.  I asked her what she knew of the mormons and she said polygamy and the gold book or plates.  So I told her that we believe that we have a prophet of God on the earth today with 12 apostles, and she said, really, who are they?  Any way we had a good conversation for about 1/2 hour sharing scriptures, (she had her bible in her desk), etc.  She said, we will have to go to lunch to discuss this more, she was really interested, but we never found time to go to lunch.  So I will have to follow up with her next time and take her a book of mormon.  I explained that the BOM is a second witness of Christ, she knew the scripture about 2 or 3 witnesses will I establish my word.  But is was a neat conversation, I explained the apostasy, etc.  She appeared very interested.
 
Like you say in your letters, at times, all we have to do is open out mouths, and as Pres. Eyring said, the Lord will place prepared people in our paths.
 
Coming back home to Elko on Thursday was fun.  I left at 10:30 am to get back to watch Cody and Erins games.  It started snowing and blowing about 200 miles outside of Elko.  I could not see anything.  So I made it to Eureka, and called mom, she said the games were canceled and it was not snowing in Elko.  I called the NV roads and they said chains or snow tires required.  So I chained up the tires and could only go 35 mph and it took me 10 hours to get home.  I got home at 8:30 pm.  I was glad to get home.  It was 67 degrees in Pahrump and Elko, we got more snow and it is back to -13 degrees again last night.  I don't think we have been above 32 degrees since a week before C-mas.  The highs are single digits or low teens.  We are in a deep freeze.
 
Cody and Erin did have games in Fallon on Friday and Fernley on Sat.  They both won both of their games.  Erin had 8 points on Fri and 7 on Sat.  Cody's knee is bothering him again so he did not play in either game.  Coach wants him for Winnemucca tomorrow night.  Klekas was going to call Gunnel to have him look at it again.  He said it feels like he pulled a muscle behind his knee or something.
 
We nothing else is happening, Grandma Nielsen is still not feeling well.  The flu and a virus is going on all over the country.  I told grandma Nielsen about my couple experiences in Pahrump and said, so Sister Nielsen does not have any thing on me.  I'm keeping up with her.  And grandma said, who do you think she learned it from?  I thought that was cute.
 
I hope you have a super week.  We love you and pray for your continued success.  Last night I had a dream about you and in the dream, you said you did not get along well with your companion.  I hope that is not the case.
 
Love you,
 
Dad

Back to the grindstone

Dear Sister Nielsen,

There goes another week.  It seems like the time just keeps flying by.  You blink and another week goes by.  We had a good week. I had a day off on New Years day, but worked the other days of the week.  Brian and Chelsea left Wednesday to go back to New Mexico.  It was nice having them here.  I made a couple batches of jerky for Brian and Chelsea to take back with them, but the kids seem to eat it faster than I can make it.

Cody and Erin both had games on Friday and Saturday against Truckee and  Sparks respectively.  They both won both of their games.  Erin had 13 points on Friday and 12 on Saturday.  Fridays paper said that Erin is the leading scorer on Elko's girls team averaging 8.3 points per game.  So these last 2 games should bust up that average a little.  Cody did not have any points on Friday and hit a 3 pointer on Sat. and was fouled and had an opportunity to have a 4 point play but missed his free throw.  His knee still gets stiff and sore.  He said the back of his legs behind his knee hurts.  Like he pulled something back there.  I think he has to stretch his muscles a ton to help that.  But they both played pretty well.

Adelaide was sick a few days this week and Grandma Nielsen has the flu.  She said she was throwing up and going out both ends.  I guess there is a lot of people with the flu in Utah. 

Adelaide graduated to Sunbeams now, so she is not in my nursery class any more.  They called mom today to serve with me in the nursery.  That will be fun, but it would have been better to be with Adelaide.

I also ordained Cody to the office of Priest today, so he can bless the sacrament next week.  Tomorrow I go to Pahrump for the week.  So I am writing to you today as I will not have time tomorrow.

This last week has been freeeeeezing cold.  We had 3 or 4 days at -16 degrees below zero and the high was in the single digits.  Today it was 22 degrees and felt warm.  We got this snow before Christmas, but is has not been above freezing since.  It will be nice for me to get down to pahrump to warm up a bit.

By the way, just because the mission lets you stay up until 11:30 pm does not make it applicable to Nielsen family rules.  We were all in bed by 10:30 to 11:00 on new years eve.  The older you get, you will learn to appreciate good nights rest and going to bed early and waking up early.  I wake up about 5:00 am every day and I was just reading the other day, that getting at least 7+ hours of sleep a night is healthy and actually helps a person lose weight.

Well, I can't think of any thing else new or exciting to write about.  Notre Dame plays Alabama on Monday for the NCAA National Championship game.  Notre Dame has an all star linebacker who is LDS from Hawaii, Honolulu that was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.  He played with Elder Sanft from Hawaii, and has big tattoos on his arm.  Elder Sanft says he is not too active in the church.    

I hope you have a great week.  We love having a missionary out in the field and you are setting a good example for Erin and Cody.  With the start of the semester, in a couple weeks, these will be very busy weeks for me.

Have a super dooper week,

Love Dad