Its been a great week!

Aloha Sister Nielsen,
 
How is everything going?  Did you have your surprise visit from the apostle that was going to visit the main island in Sept?  I believe I saw that Russell M. Nelson was there but at the beginnng of the month.  Did you ever get rid of the lice?Everything is going wonderfully here except for my elk hunt.  It started Aug. 1st and end Sept. 30th.  I have been out 2 days and have seen nothing.  The truck was not shifting the 1st weekend in Aug when we went out so I took it to the mechanic and they have had it ever since and it is still not fixed.  Friday, I said, I need the truck, my hunt is ending in 10 days and I need to get out.  They are having problems getting the part fixed.  They sent it to Florida to have it fixed and the the people in Florida sent it back without fixing anything.  But it took a month and a half to send it back as they kept mailing it to the wrong address, so we need to start all over.  I picked up the truck and Sat. Cody and I went out.  We could only go 50-55 miles per hour as it does not shift.  We hunted all day and near the end of the day, the 4-wheeler got a flat tire.  We did not see an elk.  I am getting the feeling that someone does not want me to be hunting.
 
Friday, Codys football team beat Truckee 48-14.  I did not think we played as well as we did the week before.  Cody had chances for 2 interceptions and dropped one and the offensive guy knock the other one out of his hands.  He also recovered a fumble.  The newspaper said this about Cody on Friday before the game, "While the defensive side of the ball is stocked with talent, Sellers singled out the play of linebackers Cody Nielsen and Jordan Walthers from last week.  the pair led the team in tackles and Sellers said they are probably the best set of linebackers to come through the program in a while.  Our defense is predicated on our linebackers making the tackles, Sellers said.  Cody and Jordan have done a good job and they need to continue to improve.  The whole group is playing really well."
 
Summer had a soccer game on Friday night and her team won and she played really well.  She got off a few really nice kicks on goal, but did not make a goal.  Carly played well and won her 1st soccer game on Saturday.  She has her 1st basketball game tomorrow night with PAL.
 
Summer's 4-H program had a family activity on Wed. night and we went to that.  The missionaries are trying to teach the family of the lady who runs that program, so we are trying to do some friendshipping so we can have them taught in our home.  A little missionary effort.
 
On Sunday, I had to speak in the spanish branch.  So I brought Erin along to bare her testimony in spanish.  She wrote it down in english and then I helped her translate it in spanish and she read it.  We need to work on her pronunciation of a few words, but she did okay.  Someone said we should have taped it and then compare it to 2 years from now and see the difference.  I had prepared a talk on the temple and when we sat down before the meeting President Hirst said there was a family of 7 there investigating and this was their very 1st time in the church.  So I changed my mind and decided to talk on Faith in Jesus Christ. Temples was a little advanced for them.  It went pretty well, but I talked for 15 - 20 minutes without having prepared much on that subject, just from studying preach my gospel the week before.
 
Last night we had out stake youth standards night.  It was an elderly gentleman from Denmark and lived there during WWII and then moved to the states with his family and got baptized.  It was very interesting.
 
Also, last night, Whitney wanted to facetime us with some important news.  And the news is. ........ her roommate Tricia is going to be baptized on Oct. 19th.  So Cody and I are going to try to find a flight back there to see if we can make it for that.  That is really exciting.  Whitney is doing some awesome missionary work already.  Whitney had her 1st new member discussion with the missionaries on Sat. night in the home of that member family that I had called to have them take care of Whitney and Tricia was not able to attend.  But Tricia went to church again yesterday and they had another new member discussion with Whitney, Tricia and the other 2 members that play on Whitneys softball team from Logan, UT.  I guess it was an incredible discussion and the spirit was very strong.  I called the member lady today (Rose Owens) to get her side of the story and she said there was not a dry eye in the room.  Her entire family, 4 softball players and missionaries were all in tears.  They asked Tricia if she wanted to be baptized and she said yes.  She could not explain what she was feeling inside herself, but she said, she knows Heavenly Father is real and that he exists.  She did not know for sure if he really even existed, but now she knows for sure.  They had her give the closing prayer and she said, I don't know how to do it.  Whitney told her, this will be the most sincere prayer you ever give, you just need to try.  And I guess she did and did an awesome job; thanking Heavenly Father for letting her know that he really existed that he was real.  And thanking her for letting her know she was a child of God. etc.  All this sounds very familiar.  Sounds almost exactly what we experienced with Whitney.  Sister Owens said it blessed her family tremendously and she was grateful to me for calling her and hooking her up with Whitney.  The spirit blesses so many lives, what a wonderful thing to be apart of every day of our life.  There were talking about baptism and the Holy Ghost and Whitney, said, it makes college life sooo much easier.  She said it tells her who she should be friends with and who she should not hang out with.  I guess the girls stayed at the Owens house until 11:00 pm on Sat night having gospel discussion.  They did not want to leave.  They love the  spirit they felt there.  That also sounds familiar with what Whitney would do at our home.
 
Last night we facetimed with the 4 softball girls, Whitney, Tricia, Mckenna, and Tessa.  They all said the spirit was so strong and it was the neatest thing to be a part of.  When the asked Tricia to be baptized, I guess she just started crying and said she loved the feeling that she was feeling inside of her and that she wanted that spirit with her all the time.  I think we are witnessing the ripple affect  and It is great to be a witness.  I told them all that I was envious, that I want to have those special feelings and moments in our home again when the missionaries teach the gospel.  I guess we just need to get busy and go out and find more people for them to teach in our home.
 
Have a super week.  I love this gospel.  I love the spirit that it brings into our lives when we keep the commandments and live worthy of that spirit.  It is an amazing thing.   This gospel is true.  Jesus is the Christ and lives today.  The good news of the gospel can make happiness and bring sweetness to the most bitter circumstances.  I love the way it changes lives.  We might have to be supporting Tricia on her mission as well.  Whitney and Tessa are going to the Oklahoma City temple tomorrow to visit and possible do baptisms for the day.  Whit is pretty excited about this gospel.  She is like a sponge to every thing, just soaking it all up.
 
Also, we had the primary program yesterday and our family had to sing families can be together forever.  The kids did good on their parts.  Addelaide got up there and got shy, so she just closed her eyes, thinking if I close my eyes you will all go away.  She did do her part with help.  She had it all memorized but needed help when she got up there.
 
We love you and pray for you daily.  Have a super week full of the spirit.  Mom emailed Ardis Jensen and they have put in their mission papers and are waiting for their call.  Mitchell Lemmon got his mission call.  He is going to Argentina I think.  I guess he had to lose 70 pounds before he could go.  But he has come a long way back to get to his mission.
 
Love you,
 
Dad

My Dearest Sis. Nielsen,

Aloha!  We have had great week... Whitney continues to spread the gospel with her enthusiasm and great example.  We facetimed with her and the three other softball gals.  Trica her roommate and friend from Elko had an announcement.  They did a drum roll and announced that she had accepted the invitation to be baptized from the Elders that night during the discussion/new member discussion at the Owens house (the people collector) last night.  They were all so giddy and fun talking about it.  They said the spirit was really strong and that the elders had asked Trica to pray and she was a little reluctant, but Whitney told her you should really do it, because the prayers of investigators are so sincere.  There wasn't one dry eye I guess.  Whitney said it was a prayer that made grown men cry.  We are so amazed at her and her joyful spirit.  She talks about going on a mission and I think she would be great.

Family New... Carly and Summer had their first soccer games of the season and they both did really well.  Carly scored a goal and seems like she picked up where she left off last season.  She is a good little player with some real foot skills and she's not afraid to get in there and battle even though she has moved up to U-10 now.  Summer had 4 shots at goal and she looks really fast and smooth when she runs.

Elko beat Truckee on Fri. night and Cody had another solid game.

We had the primary program yesterday and Summer played a little piano piece (solo) and did well.  They all memorized their parts, even Adelaide, but when she got up there to say it she kind of closed her eyes and turned her head like she does when she is trying to ignore you. (if I don't see you, you don't exist kind of thing)  Finally, she looked at me and I mouthed what she was supposed to say and then she said it.  I think she didn't realize that "this" is the place she was supposed to say that thing we have been practicing saying in the car.  She is funny.  Dad asked her if she had picked one of my roses, because she had a big silk flower in her hand and she said "No, Dad it's just a pretend rose" .  She didn't know the word "fake" I guess.  I was showing her a picture of an igloo and I asked her what it was because I was curious if she had that word in her vocabulary and she told me it was an "ice cube house".  I thought that was pretty cute.

We went to Youth Standards night last night and it was really good.  Brother Beyer from Carlin spoke.  I had never heard of him.  His family moved here after WW2 from Denmark when he was 14 years old.  He was really good, and patriotic and talked about his conversion and just how blessed we are as members and as Americans.  I loved it and didn't fall asleep at all.

We are really excited for Erin going to Peru, she spoke in the Spanish Branch and bore her testimony in Spanish (kind of killed it), but how fun to see how much better she will get at speaking.  It's quite likely most if not all her comps with be from So. America, so she will get that accent down well.   I was hoping she would go to Brasil, because it's an automatic 6 mos. wait for the Visa and that way she would leave after you get home.  Just wasn't meant to be.

I love you so much, have a great week

Mom

PS I thought you couldn't put your toes in the sand?  you were almost in the surf with that turtle!