Pageant Week!

Crazy CRAZY week!!
It's nice to finally get a p-day again! I feel like it's been ages since I've been able to update everyone! After last p-day we had a meeting with our ward mission leader for dinner! We have been so blessed with such a great ward mission leader! A good mission leader makes a HUGE difference in the work! They help out a TON! We met him for dinner and we had Thai food! Oh my goodness! It's so good! I love all the different kinds of food out here! It's as diverse as the people!

We also went to visit a potential family before moving to Newark for a week and a half. We walked up their walkway and saw them in the family room through their window so I got super excited to knock and talk to them! Well we knocked and watched as the mom walked her kids up the stairs and hid... I was so frustrated! That was my first experience of rejection since I'd been out here! Where we live an hour away from the sites, it's hard to get a lot of area time because of our 4 hours of studies and then 5 hours in the sites. I was really upset because we have something so amazing to share and these people don't even realize how great it is! This gospel is so amazing and I just wish that we had multitudes flocking to us like Alma did at the waters of mormon! Why don't we have thousands of people who are DYING to be baptized?! But I've learned that everyone has to decide for themselves. I'm here to share the message but people decide for themselves if they want to accept it or not. And I'm learning to be ok with that!

So we moved to Newark for a week and a half! (I'm secretly praying to serve there someday!) It's BEAUTIFUL!!! Funny thing is, I lived there longer than I'd been in Irondequoit! So that kind of feels like my home!

Pageant went great! Sister Andrus and I served at the Book of Mormon Publication Site for the first week and the Smith Farm for the second week. We had AT LEAST 2000 people come in a day! It was so crazy! I met so many great people! But pageant mode kind of stinks... We were stationed in one section for an hour and then we'd rotate, whereas, normally we give people a tour through the whole thing and you get to know people and it's amazing to have the spirit tell you their concerns and you can bear testimony or share a scripture that seems so insignificant but I've had quite a few instances where people will start crying or tell me that that was exactly what they needed to hear! I get the opportunity to strengthen members and help non members see how important this is! The restoration is SOOO powerful! So pageant went great but I like NOT pageant mode better!

I loved seeing the Righetti's!!! It was so nice to see family! But it made me realize I'm still not homesick! I'm definitely supposed to be here! I love you all and miss you but this is where I need to be right now! Sister Andrus's dad came that same day with her grandma and he brought us a volleyball so for our workouts we've been straying from our daily runs and have been playing volleyball! It's so great but it looks like I haven't played in ages!

The senior couples are one of my favorite things about this mission! They are so sweet and always there to help!:) They're amazing!

Time is seriously going by so fast! We're already over halfway through this transfer! I can't believe it! I'm adjusting to the mission life really well! So there's nothing that ya'll need to worry about!

My spiritual thought for the day is "There is one thing we can do to make life sweeter, more joyful, even glorious. We can be grateful!!"--President Uchtdorf!

There are so many tender mercies from the Lord DAILY! Sister Andrus have seen MANY of those in our work!
I love you all and hope you are all doing well! Keep emailing me! I love hearing from everyone!!!

Love Sista Nield!