You have to stretch to grow! Janu

Monday, January 20, 2014

Familia..

FIRST OFF. Wes you are home!! You better right me a letter asap because I am dying to hear from you! YOU LOOK GREAT!

Yet again this week I don´t have a ton of time. Had to take my baby to EL SOL today. The heart of Madrid! It was fun. Took some pictures and wasted 10 euros at the worst buffet I have ever been too haha. Oh well. Can I just tell you all how WEIRD it is to be back in Madrid? Seriously the other day we had to go to aluche to get my residency stuff done and basically I had to get on the same metro that we would take on Saturdays to the park! Stepping on to the metro and smelling the familiar metro smell and gust of wind was the weirdest feeling ever. Ha hermana Phillips warned me about it to! Weird how time flies! 6 months just flashed before your eyes. Especially when you are on an Island. It was so weird! I just feel like I have become a completely differnent person in the last 6 months and its weird being back now older in the mission! haha I am probably making no sense!? but its true it was the weirdest feeling being back around the ccm. And the weirdest thing yet is that now I feel like I never even left Madrid. I can´t believe that I was away for 6 months! Crazy. This week has been another hardish week haha. Dad, like you were saying... this is definitely probably the hardest time of my mission! But I really am learning SO much. Its weird! I have never felt so out of my comfort zone. Its hard and I just feel like the worst missionary and trainer ever but I am just leaning so much on my Savior than ever. I am just pressing forward doing the things that I know how to do the best that I can do them. Nana I loved what you were telling me in your letter.. to THANK Heavenly Father for the times that are hard! I never have really thought about that. I love it. Really without hard times in life.. where would we be? It is in the hard times that we grow. I always have remembered something that Emily Ripp taught in a young womens lesson a few years back. 

Emily, you have to strectch to grow!

Ha I just seriously have that thought in my head all of the time! And these past few weeks have just confirmed to me even more how TRUE that is. We have to have hard times and we have to be out of our comfort zones if we want to become what Heavenly Father knows that we can become! With that being said I am SO grateful for this time in my life! I am leaning on the Lord and He is carrying me up. The atonement it real! I have felt like I have had the weight of the world on my shoulders at times. But whenever I feel like that I just KNOW that the Lord understands me perfectly! That he has already taken upon him everything so that I don´t have to do it myself. I promise to you all that if we learn to rely on the atonement, it will take us further than we ever thought was possible! Don´t you love this gospel?

Work is rolling here in Torrejón slowely but surely! We are finding a lot of people. We actually had a miracle yesterday! Her name is M.L. We found her on the street at the very end of the night. She is from Africa... that one pueblo that only speaks spanish. ( I can´t remember what it is called) but she is so special! She couldn't see very well.  Anyways, the other night walking home I just had the strongest feeling to talk to this lady. So I did and at first she was a little cold. But we decided to walk her across the street because it was raining and we thought she would like the company. As we did that it was the coolest thing to watch her warm up. I was the biggest testimony builder for me! To learn how important it is to serve others and be there friend. It truly brings out the light of Christ! I then grabbed her phone number. I called her the next day and invited her to church! We met with her Sunday morning to walk with her to the capilla. Turns out that sweet M.L. is practically blind! But let me tell you this lady has FAITH! She is so strong. What a cool example to me of having faith through the all. The doctors told her that her eye sight will not get any better.. that it will get worse day by day. It breaks my heart! But what faith this lady has. She is a miracle and I am so excited to see where this goes! Pray for her!

So this week is intercambios and guess what....

HERMANA MATHER IS COMING TO WORK WITH ME! ahhh I am so excited to see her. That is the cool thing being back in Madrid! Getting to see all of my friends from the ccm haha! I am really so excited. Intercambios are always inspired and I can´t wait! They seriously come when you need them the most!

Well i love you all so much! I am SO grateful and so happy for all that you do for me. I love how on our nametags we have them name of Christ and the name of our families. We are here to forget ourselves but we are not here to forget most importantly Christ and our families! We represent CHRIST and our families. I love it. And I love you all.

Con mucho amor,

Hermana N

Refiners fire on high!

Monday, January 13, 2014

Dearest fam,

Before I start I just want to thank you all for all of the AMAZING and uplifting emails that I get from ya´ll every week. You have no idea how much they help me. Isn´t it amazing how much other people that we have in our life help us? I am constantly thinking about how lucky I am to have such incredible people that have changed my life! I really have such a strong testimony that we cross paths with people in our life for a reason. I feel like everyone that I know in my life... People back at home... people here! Have all shaped my life in one way or another! I can´t imagine our life on this earth without people to support us. Heavenly Father just loves usso much that he gives us the people that we need.

This week has been rough. Not going to lie! It has been one of the hardest weeks yet of my mission and I have never felt so low and so inadequate! But I have also never prayed so hard. Missions are crazy. I feel like just as I am getting the hang of things, I am pulled down yet again even more than I ever thought was posible. But it will be a BLESSING. I just know that with all of my heart! I just have to say that I can´t wait until the Lord will lift me even higher! We are pulled down low so that the Lord can lift us higher! We are never and I repeat NEVER given things that Heavenly Father knows that we can´t do. The Lord trusts in us! We have to trust in Him.

So I work in an area called Torrejón. And let me tell you it has been the biggest wake up call. It is cold and it is FEO haha! People are different! The language itself is different! I DON´T know the area. We are starting from nothing. We basically are on the streets a lot of the time. That with visiting members and hunting down the less actives in between Is it so overwhelming.. Opening and training will do that to ya. I'm training a nice girl named Hermana Carroll.  She is very sweet and it will be an adventure for both of us.    

Last night I was feeling pretty discouraged with the turn out of the week. I had a hard time falling asleep. But as I was laying there.. I just finally had a sweet confirmation that I am where I need to be. That I have a Savior who loves me and wants the best for me! He knows how I can get there and will push me along the way! And something that I realized was that I have been dwelling a lot on the past. Thinking about my old life on Tenerife! And I just realized that I need tostop looking back! How are we supposed to know of the GREATER and better things that Heavenly Father has in store for us if we don´t live in the now! Can´t we trust in that? I think that one of the greatest lessons that one must learn in life is how to find joy and happiness through all that life throws at us. But the cool thing is that we have a Savior who loves us so much. Christ knows us perfectly. I just know that if we rely on him he will carry us through! There are BIG things waiting for us all. Christ made the atoning sacrifice so that we can look FORWARD. 

I LOVED the video that Anna put in her email. I loved it so much. How important is it to learn from the past and 

DON´T LOOK BACK. everyone watch this.

http://www.mormonchannel.org/mormon-channel-daily/385?v=910930409001

I have great faith that our futures can be better than our pasts! Through Christ we can do all. He loves us. Happiness is a choice! It is up to US. 

I love you all so much! I am grateful for your examples and fore your testimonies. They truly help mine up!

Joe the braces are lookin great. Keep it up hahaha.

Con muchismo amor,

Hermana Nydegger

Ps.. I have pics. I just am dumb and have yet again forgotten my cord. Next week.

SO LONG PARADISE...

Monday, January 6, 2014

Hi family!

This week has been a week of full fledged emotions! I have been transfered! I am going to serve in Torrejon. I am training and whitewashing and I am going to die! But I know the Lord has a plan for all! 

Real quick because I don´t have a lot of time:

1. I practically ran a marathon after missing a bus. straight 45 minutos of sprinting with a backpack in order to make it home on time.

2. I served in a trio with hermana money and christen and had the most fun of my life. I have never laughed so hard.

3. I ate more shrimp.

4. I got hit by a train and left the place of my heart.

5. I said adios to my sweet and most dearest friend Rita.

As you all have heard, I have been transfered. I can´t even begin to describe to you all my feelings! Yesterday was the hardest and most surreal feeling. I am telling you on missions you love people like you NEVER have before! I will forever hold Tenerife in my heart! I can´t BELIEVE that I was lucky enough to live there for almost 6 months and I can´t believe that that time is now over! I literally can´t believe it! But I guess that is just what missions are about. Learning to love! Stretching yourself in ways that you never thought were possible. Stepping out of your comforts. Giving your allll. And in return feeling joy. Missions are so cool. If I could I would force everyone that I know to serve one! I can´t begin to tell you how much it has changed my life forever. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to get to know SO many incredible people en las canarias. We received the transfer call on Saturday night. I felt like I got hit by a train.  It wasn´t until Sunday during the first hymn "Because I Have Been Given Much I Too Must Give" that it really became real. I could not stop crying! I felt so blessed to have been able to serve there and I couldn´t believe that I was going to be leaving a place that has become such a big part of my life. I place that I put everything that I had into! My home! But I am telling you it is the weirdest thing because now I feel at peace! Everything is so inspired! Now I am here in Torrejon and I am excited for this next adventure ! I am excited for the new people to grow close to. I am scared out of my mind not going to lie! I feel like a TEEN MOM. In the mission I am one! ha literally! Me and my baby will be a funny sight. But I am excited! I just want to love her and be the best trainer that I can be! I am going to make her my bestie and I can´t wait. 

I LOVE YOU ALL! 

until next week!

Hermana Nydegger