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

Vaya a freir esparragos!

December 30, 2013

DEAR FAM!

Where to even start..?? Haha I have no idea! Doesn´t it feel like it was forever ago that we skyped? I can´t believe that it was just a few days ago. Weird how Christmas never fails to just come and go evvvery single year! You all have no idea how hard I was bawling. Hanging up was really so hard! Like you wrote dad, that really brought back all of the emotions from just about 6 months ago taking off for the first time. It was a really such a peaceful feeling though! I can´t even describe. We came out of the locotorio and you know what?? The skies were FLAMING. One of the prettiest nights I have seen so far here on Tenerife. Flaming oranges and pinks and reds. I am telling you as I walked away I just felt this BLANKET of warmth come over me. It was the biggest tender mercy. I still felt sad from having to say goodbye another time but I also felt so ALIVE and happy to be where I am. We all have hard things in life. It is a part of life! It is why we are here! But Heavenly Father will never give us things that we can´t do. He loves us sooo much and knows us PERFECTLY. He knows us better than we know ourselves.. and for that everything that we have in our lives good and bad are for our benefit and our good! That Christmas day was weird. Ha it was really weird! But it was also one of the most peaceful and spiritual Christmas that I have ever had. Being able to focus solely on Christ and his love is so great. He is our best friend and with Him we can be happy. On this mission I have learned so much about Christ and his atonement and just really who this perfect person is! He is my best friend and He will ALWAYS be there. I am telling you it is the coolest thing being able to be a representative of Christ. How different the world would be if we all knew Christ. I have just the strongest testimony without a doubt that He is there, running to us with arms outstretched! We just have to come to him. He can carry us to places we never thought we could. I love Christ. There is a quote by Elder Holland talking about missionary work and it says something like "let your missionaries know that when they are yelled at, scourned, spit upon... that they are standing SHOULDER TO SHOULDER with best that ever lived on this earth." I love that. It gives me courage to push on and know that when people may reject our perfect message.. that I am standing. RIGHT there. Next to Christ. It is powerful and I am so grateful to have Him as my best friend.

This week was a crazy one that’s for sure! Lots of food, lots of gained weight haha.

I cannot believe how fast this transfer is going by! Next Monday is transfers... we shall see! EVERYONE is telling me that I am leaving. Investigators, members, EVERYONE. Hahaha I am just like THANKS ALOT I love you too! The only person who has faith in me staying is Hermana Money and cute Rita. We will see! I have decided that either way I will be so excited! It may be time for me to bid farewell to good old Tenerife.. but that’s okay because I just know that there is SO much awaiting me in Madrid. Plus I love Madrid, it’s in my blood! We will see!

This week one of my highly thought through goals is learning Spanish "dichos!" Haha Spanish sayings! I mean okay can you imagine someone trying to learn English and just being about to whip out weird expressions here and there?? EXACTLY. For those who you who know me know that I am one to use weird sayings. It just makes life that much better!

ENTONCES... soo

I have committed myself to learning and memorizing a Spanish dicho every day. Thus far I have learned AND used:

vaya a freir esparragos!

(go fry asparagus...aka go fly a kite or go jump in a lake!)

pan comido

(eated break.... aka easy as pie!)

Quien te ha visto y quien te ve!

(I can’t think of a literal translation)

Estoy sin blanca!

(I am broke... ps MOM I need more money on my card haha)

los parades oyen

(the walls listen)

peces gordos

(fat fish.... aka big important people!)

AND that’s it haha. You will all be so proud to know that have used all of these dichos one way or another. People think it’s hilarious! Hahahaha

OTHER THAT THAT... life it great! The work is great. I have eaten a ton of sea food this week and guess what... I liked it... haha things are changing big time in my life huh! I will attach some of the pictures. I have never eaten so much shrimp and stuff in my life. I liked it. And I learned how to properly shell one. Cool stuff!

HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD ONE!

I LOVE YOU!

Hermana Nydegger

Monologue

Demember 15, 2013

HI!!!

First off Mom you mentioned something about a monologue and I am so sad to say that I don´t even REMEMBER what that even is! Ha! I am literally forgetting everything including certain things in English aka spelling/grammar. Just be happy that I am learning how to do it correctly in Spanish over here! I promise you that I will come back from my mission with the education of a 3 year old I am not even kidding.

Second off in case any of any of you are wondering, SISTER CHRISTIAN and I are alive! We survived the tormenta. Seriously you would not have believed the weather just this past week. It has been as loco as Utah weather! Tuesday morning during comp study we get a call from our bishop telling us that the entire island is on red alert or something. HAHA can you believe it?! Anyways, three islands were on alert for about 3 days. Needless to say were stuck in our piso for a long time. It was so weird. Really just the weirdest thing! It was hard not being able to work. My companion probably would have rather died than be locked up in our piso. But we had no choice! And the times that we were able to escape were spent cleaning up the flooded chapel. It was crazy! But a super cool experience on the mission. We were able to see some awesome miracles through the whole thing. Where we live, the tormenta actually did some damage! The roads were like mud rivers for a day… it was crazy. It ruined the roads too! There is quite a bit of clean up now.. but it’s cool. Still glad to be on the Canaries at this time. People here though are such babies about the weather! It’s hilarious. If you think that it is cold here, take a nice trip over to Utah and then tell me what is cold! Haha hope you all are surviving out there.

Third off... I HIT MY 6 MONTH MARK! Crazy how time is on the mission! I totally forgot that it was my cumplemez until weekly planning that day. Let me just tell you that it was the weirdest thought ever! I still feel like a baby on the mission. It feels so good though! The thought that I will be home this time next year blows my mind. I also can´t believe that it is Christmas in like a week! It is weird spending Christmas not only in the mission but on an Island. it still feels like July here! It does not feel like one bit of Christmas here. Occasionally I will hear Christmas music and that is a weird thought but other than that, I can´t believe it is Christmas. And that I will be skyping all of your lovely faces! It just seems so surreal to me. But I am so so excited! You all are the greatest and I just love you all so much.

I want to tell you about N! N. is the cutest girl that Sister Phillips and I actually found through the English dan joning last transfer. She is the cutest! She is from the canary islands. She is 32 years old but looks like she is barely in her 20s! She is really just the nicest. We have finally been able to teach her! I love her so much. She is so open and just such a respectful person. Not so sure how much she understands but she is so great and I know that she will be baptized soon, hopefully. She really is so open and receptive! She invited us over to her house yesterday after church and made us the cutest Canarian dinner. It was good! I still am amazed at the food that I am able to eat without any problems here on the mission.  Ha, but this stuff, I really did like. Anyways she is great! I made the mistake of telling her my first name and now that is all that she calls me.. but I love it! She says it in the cutest accent. But yeah we are planning on teaching her the Plan of Salvation tomorrow night and I hope that it all goes well. She is a miracle and I have high hopes for her!

T. is doing great. We are learning that she really has zero knowledge about religion. Plus she is from Cuba and is over 80 years old so, I am not really sure how much she understands! We asked her who God was and she told us "hijo de jesucriso?" Son of god?? You should have seen the look on our faces.. we had no idea how little she knew! Especially because she has always been there with us, with R. the whole way through.. But we have been trying our best to help her grasp a sense on God and who He is as her Heavenly Father. We finally got her to pray last night to ask if God loves her. She did it. I sure felt the spirit come in and felt how much Heavenly Father loves her. I hope that she felt it too! I know she did.  She had too! I love her so much also and just want her to be happy like her cute daughter R.

M... we are still waiting on him! His mom has kind of shut off with us again which is super sad. But we finally got her to meet with us next Sunday! I am just praying that her heart will open up again and that we can finally get Mateo into the baptismal waters.

We are finding many new people which is great! I am excited. Lots of new investigators with potential.

I LOVE YOU ALL!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! I will see all of your beautiful faces in just a few days and I look so forward to it. I miss you all so much.

Remember the true meaning of Christmas as you serve others. I have been reading the Living Christ every day and I love it so much. So powerful.

Hermana N

Sunburn of December 5th

December 9, 2013

Hi all!!!

I am here to tell you that ALL IS OKAY. Weather is back to normal. I just feel bad for all you Utahns who are suffering.. or so I hear. Speaking of weather in Utah I heard that there were tornados or something? My J-dubb friend raymond was telling me that the other day. I don´t believe him, ha. But really I heard that it is cold in Utah. To be honest I really miss it! You miss what you don´t have! I miss the cold. We will see if that comes back to bite me if I get transferred back to cold Madrid. I am still completely blown away at the fact that I am still getting hot sun in DECEMBER. I literally am still getting tanto sol casi cada dia. It gets a little chilly at night though! I bought this cheap little sweatshirt for the nights.. and I am wearing it right now! It is goes great with proselyting clothes.. kinda, kinda not.

I am so happy to hear about CB who was baptized this past week! That is so cool!  This will for fact change his life and the life of soooo many others. Missionary work is so important! It really is a huge part of our purpose here on the earth! We have been blessed SO much and now it’s our turn to share it. And there are countless blessings awaiting those who embark in this service. This special Christmas time is such a great time and opportunity to share what we know about the LIGHT OF CHRIST. By example, by word, or by music. I have been studying and learning a lot about the light of Cristo lately. I am loving it. It is the coolest thing. You all HAVE to watch all 3 videos of David Bednar and the Light of Christ. That’s all. I am really excited to be able to be a missionary during this holiday season! It is really different and hard at times.. but I am excited. There is not a better season to be able to share the gospel and happiness that we have!

Speaking of the light of Christ. I had a cool little experience the other day on the bus!  We were catching a bus to go out to eat in Adeje with fun little Ana and Mario, the Italians, like we do every tuesday during medio dia. So we catch the bus and this random guy in front of us starts attempting to talk to us in English. (many people here by the way will randomly just come up to us and start spitting out the 4 english words they know. It’s hilarious.) So this Jose man starts to talk to us! Of course when we tell him we are from the United States, he says “hamburgers!” ha typical! But then I ask, "Usted es una persona que cree en dios?" Are you a person who believes in God? Then Jose goes on to tell us about how he doesn´t and all of the bad things in his life. It breaks my heart every time when I hear this! As he is talking to us this cute girl who was sitting by herself just turns around and says, "Yo creo en Dios!" “I believe it God!” with just the biggest smile and light in her eyes. Wow, it was such a cool experience for me! It just testified to me so strongly that there are people in this world that have this LIGHT! There are goooood people out there who have faith! We just need to help and share this light to all. I got her number and am excited to call her!

The work is going great! It kind of feels like we are whitewashing again because we are started from practically scratch again in a closer area.. but I am excited.

Spanish is coming! Poco a poco. Like everyone says! Little by little it is coming. I am speaking even more spanish with my new companion and feel like I am understanding even more every day.

I love you all! Have a good week. Find joy in the journey and remember who you are!

Hermana N

Foto… picture I snapped in Adeje after a week of rain storms!  So pretty!

23 Days Until Christmas

December 2, 2013

Hi Family!!!!

How are you all???  I really don´t know quite how to describe this week!  It was crazy.  Honestly just another big change.  Holy cow can I just tell you all HOW MUCH I missed you all and everything this week!  Thanksgiving with the change of transfers and everything just hit me hard... but I hope you all had a great time!

So Thanksgiving... NADA! Haha, I am not joking.  We didn´t do anything!  We were invited to go up with the other missionaries up north in Santa Cruz and La Laguna but then we weren´t able to get permission to leave our area and go... sad huh!  Yes.. I was a little bit bitter about it, haha, but no pasa nada todo es bien!  Instead I had a nice and long 3 hour planning session with my new comp Hermana Christian trying to explain all there is to know about our GIGANTIC area of the Los Cristianos ward. Seeing that the area is huuuuuge... I think that we are going to try to divide the area amongst the 6 of us missionaries here. Which means that my companions and I will only be working in the areas closest to us! Ha, it kind of feels like starting all over.. it’s kind of sad because that means we will have to pass our other investigators over to the other elders that have a car. It will be hard and different! But I am excited also because I know that it will make missionary work more effective in the long run, ya know?? They are hoping to be able to split the ward in a few years and for that they need a lot of members on all parts of the island and not the areas that we have been working in.... if that makes sense.  But, yeah looks like Sister Christian and I will be focusing our work here in the Los Cristianos and Las Americas area... which are pretty touristy but I am excited! Our plan is to just toooocccaarrr aka knock! that way we can hopefully find people that live here. I am excited! Sad because things are really changing big time but excited. Sister Christian is a really hard worker which is so great!

So the weather this week has been absolutely CRAZY! I am not even kidding you... cats and dogs just POURING all day. And hard too!  It has been a wet and cold adventure this week seeing that all of my winter stuff is in Madrid.  I am just praying that it lasts just this week! Apparently it is.  All I know is that I am soaking wet.  Haha, I need to buy a coat or something because I don´t have anything. I am about to just go to one of the chinos and buy a `poncho.  But everyone I talk to says that this weather isn´t normal!  So we will just have to see.

Not much to report on this week... M. baptism fell through. We are trying for next Saturday hopefully! We had an AWESOME lesson with cute T.  T. is R's. mom!  She is going to get baptized soon.  As soon as we get her to pray first, ha! We had an awesome lesson on families and baptism and happiness. It actually was all over the place! But definitely it was lead by the spirit. The spirit was so strong. She was so cute! She is got to be the sassiest 83 year old that I know. But I just love her so much. Just like her cute daughter R. They are so great. But the lesson was powerful.

I hope thanksgiving and everything was so great for you! Know that I love you all so much and that I pray for you each day. LOVE YOU!

Hermana Nydegger