First Full Week in the Field!

So SURPRISE!! I get to email today because we don't have to move down to Newark (New York not Jersey) for Pageant! My p-days will be on tuesdays for the next couple transfers and then we'll see as the next transfers come. (it depends on the area)

First off I want to say congrats to Kyle on becoming DISTRICT LEADER!!! You're going to do GREAT!!! I'm so proud! You'll be the best DL France has ever seen! And kick some booty in Lille for me!:)

So my trainer is sister Andrus! She's from Mapelton UT and she played volleyball for Springville High! She also went up to Utah State for a year! She's super cool! We get along really well!! She's taught me so much!!

So so far I've been able to work in the Book of Mormon Publication Site (BOMPS) and the smith Farm! I'm glad that you guys got the pics that those families sent! That was so nice of them to text you pictures!! Everything has been super busy!! We live an hour away from the sites so most of our study time is done in the car depending on whether we have a morning shift or an evening shift! I've had some super powerful experiences in the sites! 

So our area right now is called Irondequoit! I absolutely LOVE it! Half of it is the ghettos and the people are seriously so open to talking to us! It was so funny though! The other night we met up at a park with one of the members for dinner and we were just sitting in the grass eating mcdonalds while her son was playing on the playground and I went to throw something away and this lady from across the park yells some nonsense that can't be understood and then all these cops pull up! Ivy (the member that we were with) told us that it was a drug bust on the corner by where we were sitting and the lady was yelling jibberish to warn everyone that the cops were coming! HAHAHA I about died! It's so funny! I'm in the ghettos but I feel just as safe here as I did in Cache Valley! The Lord definitely protects us! And Don't worry mom and dad! It's not all ghettos!! I'm safe! A lot of our area is really ritzy, nice homes! So don't freak out! The Elders in our area get most of the ghettos anyway (which I'm a little upset about) haha

Since we live about an hour away from the sites, we don't get to spend as much time in our area as we'd like so we've only been able to spend about 2 hours in our area over the last week! But it's been amazing and I've met so many wonderful people! I'm so glad I came here!!

So one of the A.P.s who's in my district is from Star Valley! His name is Elder Semadeni! Mama! He went to school with Dalton so you'll have to ask melanie about him!

I had my first experience with KIND OF feeling homesick this week! We went to Bishops house for dinner after church and his daughter had just come home from BYU for the summer and after dinner she was joking around with her mom and dad and it kind of pulled at my heart strings for a minute! It reminded me that I have parents that I did that with! That seems like it was eternities ago though! haha but hey! We've made it a month!! WAHOO!!!

Happy B-day to Koebe and Jax!! You guys are too grown up now! You've gotta stop!

RIGHETTI FAMILY!!! I hear you'll be at the pageant on the 19!! I'll be there that night so keep your eye out for me!!! And p.s. I'll be at the SMITH FARM that week so come see me!! It'll be so nice to see family!

Anyway! I'm safe and HAPPY!!! I love it here! I love you all!

Love SISTER NIELD

 

 

Home Sweet Home

Sister Nield made it to New York!

New York looks just like jersey!!! It's already home!! Last night we stayed at the mission pres's house. He and his wife are amazing. Pres Francis truly was called of God to serve over this mission!
Today I met my trainer!!!! Wahoo!!! Sister andrus has been here for about a year! We have a nice air conditioned car+ we all have our own iPads. So weird. But do great! Were serving in Irondequoit which is a cute little city! It's very diverse and I love it! Tomorrow is my first day on the sites! So there's not too much to say right now! Everything's great!! Just so everyone knows, because pageant starts next week, I won't get a day to email for the next few weeks! Don't let that freak you out! It's normal! I'm alive and well! This is where I need to be and The Lord is definitely in every second of my day! I love you all!!!
Talk to you soon

Another GREAT Week

So a TON has happened this week! Where to start?
Well Tuesday night for our tuesday devotional we heard from D. Todd Christofferson!!! That's the 2nd apostle I've heard from since being here!! Ballard was the first! But It was sooo cool because it was the new Mission President's seminar so we had Christofferson, Nelson, Ballard, Bednar, Anderson, and Oaks all at our devotional!!! It was so amazing to feel the spirit of having so many apostles of God in the same room! and I was literally 45 yards away!! I can't believe it!!! 

Then we started visitor's center training on Wednesday so we got to go up to Temple Square to talk to the sisters up there! It was so amazing! And this lady that's over all the Visitor's Centers told us how we got picked to be Visitor's Center sisters!! I can't believe I was ever upset about going to a visitor's center! She told us that when we turn in our papers and the apostles are looking through them, they look at our pictures and if they see "the light of Christ in your smile and the atonement in your eyes" they set us aside to decide which center we go to! How incredible is that?! And it was funny! One of our teachers was saying that as VC sisters, we hold the machine guns in missionary work, whereas everyone else has squirt guns! We get a dedicated building, resources and artifacts, plus scriptures and our testimonies whereas everyone else gets scriptures and testimonies! I really am so excited to get to New York and to meet all the new people that will be there!

Leah asked us to continue to meet with her, even though our last day was last Friday! It's been amazing to see the change in her just from the last few days!! Last night we really got a break through with her though! She asked us how she can know that what she's feeling is God and not the influence of Sister Hunter and I. Thank goodness for the spirit and hours of studying because I showed her Moroni 7:13-14. I explained to her that it doesn't matter if she KNOWS whether it's from God or not, but that if it makes her feel good and makes her want to do good things then it's probably from God and it should be acted on. The spirit testified of so many things to me last night and it testified of so many things to Leah through the things that we talked about! Most of what was said most definitely was from the Lord! There are so many miracles in this work!! I can't even wait to get out into the mission field!

Thanks everyone who's sent dear elders!! it's so nice to hear from you guys! 

I leave for New York Monday! Mom and Dad, I'll probably be calling around 7ish or during my layover in Atlanta around 11 or 12! Be ready to answer the phone!!:) I'm so excited to talk to you guys!!! 

I haven't really gotten homesick though.. There really isn't much time! Know that I love you though!!! EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!!! and Remember that our Heavenly Father loves y'all so much and He is ALWAYS there for you!! Turn to him in prayer and you can receive so many miracles in your lives!!!

Love Always

Sister Nield

 

 

What A Week!

Sister Nield sent her first email from the MTC on Friday.  She is LOVING mission life.  She absolutely adores her companion, Sister Hunter, and has already had incredible experiences!

Well hey y'all! First full week down! I can't believe how fast it's gone! Hope y'all are keeping yourself busy!!

Happy birthday last Saturday daddy! and Happy birthday on monday to Hailey!! Hope you guys had a great day! Dang dad! I wish I was there for the Dutch oven! Yours is the only one that comes close to Grandpa's! It's been amazing to know that he's here helping me out through everything! I feel him with me every day! He's like my guardian angel!:) and thanks Dad and Kyle for the Dear Elders!! Everyone else needs to step it up!;) my unit number is 164 and my leave date is June 30! I want to hear from EVERYONE!!!

So this week went from a rough start to being the best and most rewarding EVER!!!
Monday Sister Hunter and I had our first TRC lesson with our investigator Leah! She is an amazing woman! She suffers from post traumatic stress disorder because "mormons hurt her" and she hates mormons and because of her trauma she's very reserved. I love her so much though! She has honestly become a great friend over the past week! It's funny how being on a mission makes you love SOOOO many people! our first meeting with her was REALLY rough and I felt like a HORRIBLE missionary and felt like I was waisting my time out here because there was NO WAY Leah was going to accept the gospel! She is VERY evangelical Christian and she has read through the book of mormon, D&C, and Pearl of great price and knows the bible better than I ever could and she STILL hates mormons because of her trauma! Everytime we'd try to share a message with her she'd shoot it down and it was so hard! I left that lesson SOOO discouraged!!! That was the first time I'd cried here since I left the curb! But thanks to some great sister Training leaders I got some new perspective!

I realized that Leah didn't need to hear the lessons! She's heard those many many MANY times over the year that she's been working in the MTC! What she really needs is a friend! Someone to change her views on Mormons. 

Well Wednesday I got really excited to go in and see her! We went in and I know i've always heard that my sass would get me into trouble but guess what? That's exactly what Leah needed! We can tease each other like it's nobody's business and it's so funny! She played her guitar for us and sang with us and I thought I got a total break through! I don't remember how it came up but I mentioned the divorce and I got her to open up about her parents divorce and we had a really good conversation about the gospel! It was amazing!!

But last night was the real game changer! I was so happy with how wednesday night went but last night sister hunter and I walked in and she looked upset so I asked her what was wrong and she said she didn't want to talk about it but finally we got her to admit that the missionaries that had come in before had made her cry (good cry) and so I asked her if she could feel God's love for her and she said yes and this part KILLS me! She said "I just don't want to feel God around you though. It confuses me!" So we talked about it for a long time and I told her that we loved her and she said "I know and I don't like that cause I want to hate you.." by the end of the lesson she was saying "I wouldn't know how to believe it if I wanted to." And "I hate when my heart and my head are telling me different things!" I am on cloud 9 right now! Here is this woman who I never thought that I would be able to reach, and really I did NOTHING!! It was ALL the spirit! Everything that happened in that lesson happened because of the spirit! And she can feel it!

This week has been perfect and I'm so sad that tonight is supposed to be our last lesson with Leah!! I love her so much and I've been able to feel God's love for her! I don't like the fact that as soon as I get attached to people it's time to move on!

I'm always going to remember Leah though! Because of her I learned that the Lord can soften even the most stubborn hearts! It might just take time!
Remember Heavenly Father loves you all! And I love you too!!!

 

Love Sister Nield

Entering the MTC!

Sister Nield entered the MTC June 11, 2014.  She is so excited to begin her part in the Lord's work. Good luck Sister Nield! We love you!

 

 

Addresses:

If you get the urge to write, here are my addresses!

Mission Home:
Sister Amanda Nield
460 Kreag Rd
Pittsford, NY 14534-3733

Mission Pictures

I'm not one who feels comfortable in front of the camera but I loved spending time with a good family friend getting some pictures taken for my mission. A big thank you to Jeanne Nielsen for taking these wonderful pictures! More to come!