Snow on Spring Break

Hola Hermana Nielsen,

Como te va?  Espero que todo ande bien contigo y tu companera.  We are all doing fine here.  It rained and snowed last Wed. and Friday here and yesterday we woke up to 2 inches of snow.  The kids start their spring break this week.  Last week on Tuesday, Elko played spring creek in baseball and we won, but Cody did not play at all.  His coach said until he gets glasses he is useless to him.  So we will have to try and get an eye appointment for him.  He and the choraliers are in Florida this week enjoying the warm temperatures.  We have not heard much from him.

On Wed. I had to drive down to Round Mtn high school to meet with students.  It snowed on me the entire trip down.  Coming back it cleared up a bit, but I was not expecting snow.  I missed the turn off to Carlin and tried to turn the college car around in the median of the highway and got stuck.  I was there for about 10 minutes trying to get out of an illegal turn around in the median of the highway.  It was loose gravel and such and I had the front tires buried up to the axle.  Finally I was able to back up down the to the bottom and then I gassed it and got out.  I was afraid a highway patrol man was going to have to get me out with a ticket.

The baseball team played Lowry here over the weekend 2 games without Jacob and Cody and Elko won 2 out of the 3 games which is good.  I have been busy on taxes, I am starting to panic a little at this point as I only have 2 weeks left.  I was feeling good about things 2 weeks ago and now I am buried.  

Monday was Cody's bball banquet and he got the 6th man award, which was appropriate and good.  Klekas said he needs to shot like his dad and not his mom, and he will be a lot better player.  I enjoyed that, and mom didn't like it at all.

March madness is going on and I love that.  The final 4 are Wisconsin, Florida, Uconn and Kentucky.  Florida is the only #1 seed left in the group.  

Church was good yesterday, but we only had a few people in church, around 100.  Everyone is gone on spring break.

Well keep up the good work.  Sierra's younger sister wants to be baptized now, but her step dad is against that.  I think her mom and sister would all get baptized if it were not for the step dad.

We love you and pray that you are doing fine.  I am going to send a spanish text book to you for you to go through and study the chapters.  You need to learn the proper grammar and that only comes from the text books, not reading the liahona.  You should be studying the grammar and verb conjugations for at least an hour a day and probably more.

Tell you comp. hola de nosotros.  She seems like she is really nice.  The Elko east stake president, President Bowman has been called as the mission president in Honduras.  I am not sure how many missions there are there, but tell you companion that.

Have a super week.

Love

DAD   

Trip to Utah

Hola Hermana Nielsen,

Como estas?  Como anda todo?  How is your spanish coming along?  Do you have a spanish text book that you are studying out of every day?  We pray that you are learning the language and being able to add your input to the charlas.  We are all doing fine here.  I am busy with taxes and work.  Summer is going to play softball this year and she starts practice this wed.

Cody's baseball team went to south tahoe this past weekend and they won their game on Friday and last both on Sat.  So that is not a good way to start their season.  He went like 1 for 8, he keeps striking out as he says he needs glasses to see the ball.  So we are going to try and take him in today.  He has his bball banquet tonight.  He had his interview with Klekas for bball last week and he said it went surprisingly well.  He told Cody he doesn't realize how much he means to the team.

Cody went to a new member discussion with Sierra last night and it was good.  Her younger sister went to church with her yesterday.  She got her temple recommend interview  for limited access to temple. She wants her patriarchal blessing as well.  I think she is following in Whits footsteps.  Cody told us, she shared a story last night about her mother.  She could not find something this past week and she remembered my talk on the holy ghost and a story I shared, so she went down into the basement and prayed and as soon as she stopped praying, she had a thought come into her mind where the thing was and she looked there and there it was.  An answer to her prayers.  So Sierra is really excited about that.  We want to have her and her family over for dinner.

Cody leaves for Florida with the choraliers this wed.  He is excited about that.

We went to Utah for stake temple day on sat. but we went to the jordan river temple.  Then me and my siblings all got together to try and divide all the things in mom and dads house.  We think we are going to sell it as it is too big for Charlene to take care of.  But it was a fun time and felt like old times.  I am sure mom and dad were there as all there children were together.

March madness has started and there has been some big upsets.  Duke got beat the first game and so did BYU.  I love all the upsets, that is what makes it fun.

We came home yesterday and got to church about 1 minute before it started and I was conducting, so that was lucky.

Well have a great week, we love you and are happy you are serving a mission.  

Have a great week.

Love DAD

The big 50

Hola Hermana Nielsen,

How is the spanish coming along?  We hope that you are able to understand and speak everything that your heart desires.  Did you feel that 6.8 earthquake yesterday off the coast of Chile?  We had a good week here.

I was down in Las Vegas Sun through Wed. for training on our computer software.  I got home wed. about 7:15 pm and the Elders called me and wanted me to go out with them at 8 pm.  I had called 2 youth speakers to speak this sunday and they both bailed on me, so I told the Elders, that I would go on splits if they would speak on Sunday and they agreed.  I think that was a good trade off.  However, on Sunday, the 1st Elder spoke for 25 minutes and did not leave us much time for the high councilman so we told the Elder he would have to speak another time.

Sierra Atoa got baptized on Sat.  It was a great baptism, all of her family were there and many other non-member high school kids.  She asked me to speak on the Holy Ghost.  She was really happy and I asked her how she felt and she told me "amazing".  It is fun seeing all these young men and women embrace the gospel.

Amber drove the camry to twin falls on Friday to go to the temple and visit her old roommates from Twin Falls.  She got home Sat. but missed the baptism.  She still has not found a job, so I am not sure what she plans to do for college with no $$$.

On Sat. night we had a ward activity and had a Chile Cook off.  It was good and we had quit a few people there.  Cody went to Boise on Friday morning for baseball.  They played 2 games on Friday and 2 on Sat.  The won both on Friday and split the 2 on Sat.  I think Cody was 2 for 5 on Friday and I don't remember how he did on Sat.

Well we hope you have a great week.  Cody and the group leave for Florida in 2 weeks.  Alex Jordan put in his mission papers so he will get his call probably next week.

Amber spoke in the 5th ward meetings yesterday with the high councilor.

I can't think of much else that is happening on this end.  I was able to fix the internet on Friday night.  We had a service person come out and try to fix it and he said he could not fix it, so we were left on our own.  I look up a few videos on youtube and found one and took 2 pages of notes and came home and fixed it Friday night.  I am starting to love you tube for fix it videos.

Que tenga una buene semana.  We love and pray for you every day.  Have a super week and be obedient to everything.  Oh also, last night Cody got his patriarchal blessing and it was really good.  Whitney got hers last Monday, but I was in Las Vegas.  Mom and Amber said hers was amazing as well.  

Love you,

Dad

Cruising Along

Hola Hermana Nielsen,

I am writing you from Las Vegas where is was 82 degrees yesterday.  We drove down yesterday.  We left at 7 am and tried to catch church on the way down.  We stopped in at Mcgill, NV and missed the sacrament by 5 minutes, we stopped in Ely and missed theirs as well.  So we continued on to Alamo and got there at 12 pm and their meetings started at 12:30.  So we were able to catch the meetings.  President Sharp and his wife were in that ward.  It was good to see them.

I am at a Hueg conference until Thursday.  It is a conference to teach us more about our system software at the college.  

Well I guess Serima Thompson got baptized on Sat.  She had told us 6 pm and we showed up at 6 and all the baptisms were done for the day.  Someone told us an 18 year old got baptized at 4 that day.  

Cody was in Reno playing baseball.  I guess he went 0 for 4 or 5 and they lost both games.  Whitney came home for spring break and flew into Reno to surprise him and then they came home with the Jonas family.

Whitney will get her patriarchal blessing tonight.  And Cody will get his next Sunday.

Elder Santf and his 2 AP companions stopped by the house on Wed. night.  They were here for a zone conference and he will be going home in 3 weeks.  It was good to see him and Amber met him for the first time.

Amber has been going out with the sister missionaries a couple times a day.  She still likes being a missionary.  She had a job lined up for this week, and we think that might have fallen through.  It was a 6 week grant working with the juvenile delinquents, but the guy called her last week and said they wanted 5 kids, but they only have 3 so far at this point. 

Well I can't think of much else happening this week.  Keep praying and being obedient in all things and the Lord will bless you.  I am sure of that.

We love  you and pray for you daily.  Have a super day and week.

Love you,

DAD

State Runner's up :(

Hermana Nielsen,

Hola, como estas?  How is everything going?  I hope that every day you are learning the language better and speaking and understanding more.  How are you studying the language?  Do you have a text book in Spanish for grammar?  Well we had a good week here.  On Wed. evening Amber and I went out with the Zone leaders now serving in our ward.  They had a couple of appointments but they no one was home.  So we went to visit a focus family.  Amber did not think that the Elders addressed the needs of the family very well.  She says she likes to ask more questions than what the zone leaders did.  On Thursday, I worked late in my office on taxes trying to get a lot done before we left for Reno for the State bball tourny.

We wanted to leave around 8:30 am for Reno, but I had a tax client come over that morning and we ended up leaving around 11:00 am.  Spring Creek girls lost to Boulder City in the 1st game of state.  Lowry boys lost to Clark from Vegas by 15 to 18 points.  The Lowry girls beat Desert Pines girls on Friday.  And Elko boys beat Desert Pines boys by 18 points.  Desert Pines won the state championship last year.  The boys played very well and were pumped up.  Brandon had 18 points, 4 3-pointers and Nathan had 21 points.  Cody did not have any points, he took one shot and got it blocked.  He played good defense, but had 4 fouls.  So he did not play too much.  They called every thing on him.

We stayed at the same place we stayed 2 years ago, the Baymont Inn, as they have a good continental breakfast.  And with our family, that is worth a lot.  Amber and the 3 younger girls went with us as well.  On Sat. Elko played Clark for boys and Lowry played Boulder City on the girls side for the state championship.  The Lowry girls won their game.  But Elko boys could not make a basket to save their lives.  We were 3 for 32 from three point range.  We were down 12 to 1 in the 1st quarter and only had 25 points for the entire game.  Elko got beat 43 to 25.  Clark averages 62 plus points a game.  I would have thought that if we would have held them to 43 points, we would have won, but not when you can't make any baskets.  Brandon had 1 point, Marshall had 1, Cody made a big 3 pointer in the 3rd quarter to cut the lead to 11, and we had some momentum and then Clark went down and knocked down a 3 of their own and shot down our momentum.  Cody took two other shots later in the game, but missed.  I told mom, they needed to feed the ball to him after he made the first one and let him get in a rhythm.  But they had a good year and Clark was an excellent team.  But there is more to life than state championships.  Cody played very well.  They had a very quick guard who he was guarding, and Marshall picked up 2 early fouls so he didn't play much the 1st half.  It was all good and we got home around 9:30 pm sat. night.

Sunday morning, the BYU Ambassadors were here and put on a fireside for the parents and youth of both stakes.  It was incredible.  They all could sing very well and the spirit was very strong.  All BYU groups are incredible about bringing the spirit to what ever they do.

At church yesterday, we had 2 more members of the Elko high school dance team there.  Vicki Correa and some other little girl that worked with you on your shift at Costa Vida.  I can't remember her name.  Sierra Atoa asked me to speak on the holy ghost at her baptism on March 15.  So that will be good.  She told me after the game on sat. that she is thinking about serving a mission as well.  You were prophetic about what you said to Whitney how she would be the 1st of many to join the church.  Lenny Escabar got home from his mission last week as well.

Well, I hope you are doing well. Please send the photo and your favorite scripture this week so we can get your plaque ordered. Keep working and praying and do every thing on your end and the Lord will bless you with all your righteous desires.  We love you and pray for you daily,

Love 

DAD