HEYYY

Andre!

   I'm super stoked for you and Ellen to come to Death Valley for a football game. You think UGA is crazy. You don't know crazy till you come to the good ole' Baton Rouge! Man! I'm excited for that. And even more excited that LSU is playing UGA at UGA. Maybe I'll come home for that game. Thanks for organizing everything. I haven't looked at the other two emails yet but I will in a few minutes.

     I'm glad you're enjoying your new calling and that you are being a great example to all the young men in the ward. Going camping with them will certainly be fun. I remember going on a father son camp out with you and Dad and Eli cause Mum and Lyndel were at girls camp and I was too young. That was fun.

   Things are becoming green here. The flowers are starting to bloom as well as the trees but its still pretty chilly. We're working on it. I was able to go one day without tights or a coat. That was a first in a very long time.

    Work this week was good. We were able to get two new referrals this week and contact them both, get two new appointments with random people. We're preparing XXXXXXX for baptism on May 5th. He is so stoked and so ready. The Spirit was so incredibly strong as we taught him on Saturday. I asked him why he thought God tested us here on earth and he said that God wanted to get all the snakes out of his garden. I thought that was an interesting answer and something I for sure didn't expect but I think it was a good answer. It's not so much that God is getting rid of people but that he is cleaning his garden of habits and replacing them with flowers and grass and good things. We all have the snakes in our lives that either tempt us or keep us back from progressing. Its our job here to clean our own gardens to get back to him and be prepared to go back to him.

   Thanks for all you love Andre! I hope you have a great week. I can't wait to come home and hang out with you again!

-Ariel Nell

TEN FREAKING DAYS!

Lyndel,
I'm not so sure how much of my bum I can work off this next week because members like to say goodbye with eating appointments. I'm just not going to be eating between appointments. There is no other way that I can do it! Sorry Michael won't be there to pick me up from the airport. Will he come later in the evening to our house? When is he done with school? Are you excited for girls camp? I am! I don't think I've ever been excited for girls camp, Haha! But this year is different and I think its cause they can't tell me what to do, I'm a big person ( or so I like to think).

This past week for Sister Jensen and I was good. We decided to save some money and bike the 21 kilometers out to an appointment only to find out upon arrival that the lady forgot and was another 30 minutes away by car. That was a little frustrating! Especially cause we were riding hard for an hour and 20 minutes against the wind. Needless to say we have wonderful legs now :) We weren't able to meet with XXXXXXX this week. We plan of meeting with her Tuesday and Saturday. We are going to have to have a pretty rough heart to heart with her. She has to understand who missionaries are. She did at the very beginning but it has disappeared somewhere. We also need to find out what it is that she wants.

Our transfer call will be this Saturday. We're pretty sure Sister Jensen will have to be training. 17 new sisters arrive in our mission and only three of us are going home. And 12 were new last transfer so something crazy like that so basically everyone is training or being trained. I'm way excited for you guys to get sisters! I can't wait to joint teach with them!

We did a bunch of doors yesterday and we had the opportunity to talk to this older lady. Our conversation was really interesting and good until I realized maybe the third time through that we were having the same conversation over and over and over again. I'm pretty sure she has dementia or Alzheimers. The problem is, I couldn't let her have the last word if it wasn't correct like when she would kept saying but no one has seen God and then I would have to say yes! People can see God and Joseph Smith saw him and so did Moses and Stephan and Adam, etc. Oh heavens, I just have problems cause I like to testify and I can't let false doctrine have the upper hand. It took us 30 minutes to get out of that conversation. I had to tell her several times that we had to go. She didn't really get it until we started backing away. Ha! Oh the things we experience....

Make sure to have fun at work this week and find time for just you and Michael. I love you Lyndel and can't wait to come home to spend time with you!
-Ariel Nell

TICK TOCK

Hey Mumma!
I have to say this week probably more than any other I have really felt the power of the prayers. I've been able to stay really focused and Sister Jensen and I have been able to do a lot of good work. Thanks for putting our names on the prayer roll (in the temple) and helping that awesome lady from Germany receive her temple ordinances :) I've seen the name Fock a bit so that's kind of neat. I AM way grateful that I came on a mission. There is nothing in life that compares to it. It is so hard to describe all the lessons you actually learn and why it means so much but it does. Thanks for supporting me to come on a mission and helping me grow through these 18 months.

So my plans that I know are as follows... a bajillion eating appointments this week so members can say goodbye and then somehow manage to get packed. Then next Tuesday I will be taking a train from Bremerhaven to Berlin, I'm supposed to arrive in Berlin around noon. Once I 'm there we leave our suitcases in the office and then go through exiting interviews with President Kosak, turn in our emergency €50 as well as a letter to President reporting on our mission and a letter to yourself that they will mail back to us in two years time. I will also be sitting down with the financial clerk to make sure everything is in order. I believe we will be eating dinner at the Kosak's and having a testimony meeting and then early Wednesday morning (usually around 5 or 6 am) missionaries catch their flights home. Kind of weird knowing all this stuff. Sister Jensen likes to remind me that I'm finishing in 8 days.

This week we also had nice weather. I even went one day without tights AND a coat! CRAZY! But it's back to being cold again so I had to pull my scarfs out again and wear my heavy coats. Are you making a quilt for Tami, the one you work with?

 A scripture that really gave me more strength this week in Doctrine and Covenants is in 64:33 which says,'' Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.'' Missionary work can be tiring work but the Lord specifically told me to not get so worn down when we don't see the results we want right away because from these little things we do add up to building up his kingdom here in Germany or Bremerhaven. And I'm little and great things have come because of my well-doing. It's just something I need to keep remembering to push me until the very end.

We were given two referrals last week and so yesterday we finally had the time to contact them. Both were not interested but we continued to door the two streets they were on. We approached this one house with a garden and saw a sign on the gate that said watch out for free roaming dogs. We opened the gate and shut it behind us and then approached the door. As we rang the door bell we saw this lady's dog just hanging out in the yard. He looked at us and we said hi to him and then he went back to eating his treat. The woman came running to the door yelling is the gate shut?! We said yes and then she was really relieved. She said normally her dog barks a lot when people come into her yard but he barely barked and so thought he got away. She said he must like us and that was a good sign as to who we were. I thought that was pretty neat. The lady held a nice conversation with us but was cooking at the time so we made out an appointment for this week. We're both excited to go back.

Have fun with CRCT testing this week Mumma. Thanks for all the love and support you've offered me. Love you!
-Ariel Nell

April 21 - Wonderful Weather

Dad,
Thanks so much for the pictures. I laughed out loud at the one with Mum mowing the lawn :)  I'll be more than happy to be a ward missionary when I come home. One of my favorite callings. Sarahy and I were companions before I left for my mission and she went to school. Will she be serving a mission?

This week I was also blessed to give a talk. Late Saturday night I received a call from one of the branch presidency members. He asked if I wouldn't mind giving a talk on Sunday. I said sure and afterward wrote down four ideas that came to mind and then went to bed. In the morning we went to the church early so I could print off a talk from General Conference to use in my talk and then finished preparing it. Well during the sacrament meeting the first two speakers and the intermediate hymn were over and I had 30 minutes left to fill. As I approached the stand President Daniel said I didn't need to worry about filling the whole time, that if I got to 20 minutes that would be fine. Well I managed to speak for over 30 minutes. I never would have guessed I'd be able to do that in another language and the talk wasn't written out, it was just a few bullet points I wanted to make. Many members came up to me and thanked me for the talk and one even said it was the best talk she heard that day. I really loved being able to share my testimony with the ward one last time and give them the spiritual strength and food that they need to continue to grow in their faith and testimonies.

That is sad that Elder Romero will most likely be transferred. Everyone writes about him in my emails so I thought it would be fun to meet him. Oh well. I will be returning to the mission home next Tuesday. I wrote Mum out the blow by blow that I know so far. Monday is my last day here in Bremerhaven and then Tuesday I take a train to Berlin and have interviews with President and the financial secretary and then we eat with the Kosak's, have a testimony meeting, spend the night in a hotel, and then leave early early Wednesday morning for home.

Sister Jensen and I had a great experience this week with members as a joint teach. We asked a member if she could come with us to our appointment and she said that instead she would call the investigator (who lives across the street from her) and invite him over for abend brot. Well he accepted and it was probably the nicest appointment for us because the members did the teaching and we were there just to testify that what they were saying was true and to add more to the discussion.

Each Sunday we go into priesthood and relief society and share a missionary experience from the week previous. We shared this experience and how that's how missionary work really should work. The members are the ones who should be teaching and the missionaries are there to facilitate. I think it was a good lesson for them all to hear and a new idea for others.

Next Sunday I will be playing my Oboe in sacrament meeting. There is a young man in our ward who can play piano pretty well so I asked him maybe a month ago to help me and we were able to meet up this week to practice. So far it sounds good. I'll be sure to record it so you all can hear when I get home.

XXXXXXX's baptismal date has been pushed back a week but he has his baptismal calendar and he is doing strong in quitting smoking and preparing himself. He is really excited to be baptized. XXXXXXX can't be baptized next week. We were never able to get past the commandment of coming to church. She has a lot of issues with it. We weren't able to have a lesson with her this week but tomorrow we have the chance to meet her and we plan on really laying out what our role is as missionaries and getting her to voice what she really wants. Pray for us in that appointment! We got a few new appointments this week that we are excited for. The work keeps on going!

Have a great week Dad! Love you!

-Ariel Nell

Travel

So I will be leaving Bremerhaven 6:56 am on Tuesday to travel to Berlin since we have to be there by 12:00pm. I am already tired thinking about it! Not to mention I have to change trains four times. Buh!
Anyways. Love you all. Have a great week.

-Ariel Nell

April 14th - Off to Work I Go

Hey Dad,
I have to say you keep me laughing throughout all your emails. You are always able to find these amazing hole in the wall places of adventures that others don't normally find. It's a neat talent you have. That's so cool you got a old fishing captain to help you all fish. I remember going fishing with Andre. I never used to fish, just watch him, but it's really relaxing and entertaining. That was the same with whatever he did. I just liked to be near by. I remember sitting on the couch watching him play video games. I hate video games, but I enjoyed watching Andre play.

I'm all for the beard again Dad. Our branch president has a really nice beard here. He shaved it once and Sister Dean and I immediately told him how saddening it was. He said we were the only ones that noticed. But now its back again so all it well. If people keep giving you funny looks you should just tell them to check out the prophets of old. I like what you did with the primary kids. I don't think I would have come up with that idea to all run around in the crowd. I like how you also connected it to them, to be aware of their peers in school. You do a really great job of connecting with all groups in the ward.

XXXX didn't come to church this week and we haven't heard from him. Maybe we will go by again sometime soon. We did a lot of finding this week and actually met several people who knew about Mormons. One old man had visited Salt Lake with his wife and wanted to go into the temple but said you had to be Mormon to do that. He asked if I was allowed to get married after my mission and I said yes. He then asked me if I would marry him and I told him I was pretty sure he was already married and then He said I was smart. Ha! We talked to another man who has sat down twice with Elders and heard the lessons. I was impressed that he had done it twice. He was nice to talk to, not mean or slamming the door in our face but he also wasn't interested to meet with us.

We decided to go by on XXXXXXX. We were way nervous about it the whole day. When we got to her apartment we said a prayer before ringing her doorbell. She answered and was happy to see us like nothing had happened. She asked us why we looked so scared and explained because she told us to never to come back. She said she didn't really mean it. We got to sit down with her and hear the real problem why she told us not to come back. It comes down to her misunderstanding me and thinking that I said her apartment was possessed by Satan. We tried to clear things up, it just depends on if she listens to what we said or not. We did ''how to begin teaching'' with her all over again and really explained what our purpose was and asked what she wanted. She said she was going to think about it. We have a lunch appointment with her on Tuesday so we will be able to talk more then. Hopefully she chooses to continue on this course. Otherwise we will have to spend less time with her and more with those who are seeking the truth. Did you ever have problems with people getting too connected to you as a friend and not recognizing your responsibility as a missionary? It's hard.

Would you suggest that I send a package home with books and things so that the suitcases aren't over weight or no? I plan on throwing away things I definitely don't need and leaving clothes that are worn out but I'm just anticipating the what if.

Thanks for all your love and support Dad. Love you!
-Ariel Nell

Just a note to Dad

I just remembered, as I was reading in the Book of Mormon this past week Mosiah 8:11-14 really stuck out to me as a great example of King Limhi asking Ammon for referrals. I thought that was cool :)