Tuesday, September 27, 2011

DON'T EAT THE EGG ROLLS!!!

Nametag translation: Sister Nelson Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Kasey and her companions
Kasey holding one of her study manuals. The missionary on the right is Elder W. who is
currently serving in our ward here in Ottawa.
A closer view

Kasey with her district on a Sunday walk to the temple
Kasey and her companions with their stretchy bands issued with their "Missionary Health Guide" for fitness on MTC P-day and in the mission field

Lehou ngoh ge ga ting (Hello my family!)

So our practice investigator (Barbara's note: this is a person who speaks Cantonese that helps them practice teaching people in the language) from last week is now our teacher!!! Wow! It was kind of weird to have her teach us all of the sudden, but awesome because our district already loved her so much! You really grow to love someone when you are teaching them about things that are so dear to you, especially when they patiently try to understand your broken Cantonese. I love her! She is tough, but I know she will be good.

Brother D is now our new practice investigator. We taught him for the first time yesterday. Tomorrow, we're finally going to teach the actual first lesson from Preach My Gospel manual. We've just been doing our best to meet the investigators needs with the Cantonese that we knew, but we're taking it to the next level and making our Cantonese meet what we feel we need to say!

There are a bunch of adorable sisters here from Hong Kong. It is so fun to see them on campus. We were talking to one of them in the cafeteria the other day and as we were leaving she said, "Ga yau!!! ("more oil" it is used like press forward, keep going!!!) Hong Kong needs you!! Hong Kong needs you!!!" Wow!! That was the most amazing thing to hear. While I'm here, it's sometimes easy to forget that I will ever leave the MTC, but I will!! I will be teaching REAL people! and speaking their language!!! and possibly helping people that this sister knows! Only 62 days!!! (but who's counting?!!)

I discovered Gala Apples in the vending machines yesterday!!!!!!! yay! We get $8 on our cards per week, so I could buy 16 apples each week if I really got desperate! And lesson of the week: DON"T EAT THE EGG ROLLS!!! My companions and a few elders in our district had egg rolls and Asian noodles for dinner on Saturday. We were sitting in class afterward and none of us felt quite right. . . we were discussing this when our teacher, Brother W said “you ate the eggrolls?” . . . uh oh! That scared us! It turns out he just remembered them not being as good as some of the other options. Our experience, nor his were as traumatic as I feared, but, I think we will all be avoiding the egg rolls in the future!!!

Thank you thank you sooooo much for making it possible for me to be here! This is an amazing opportunity!! I am learning so much about myself and the gospel and Cantonese and it's only been 2 weeks! It's incredible. My companions have pointed out strengths they see in me that I have never had before, in fact, some of them are opposite of what I consider myself to normally be. I know that the Lord will qualify whom He calls. He is definitely qualifying me and I look forward to be able to serve him. This gospel is awesome and I am so blessed to have it in my life!!!

I love you soooooooo much!!! have a great week!!

Ga Yauh!

Love,

Sister Nelson

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

1st e-mail from the MTC

Hi Everyone!

Guess What?!!! It's my P-day!!! Finally!! Thank you soooooo much for all of your e-mails and letters! I've gotten mail almost every day since Thursday and it's been awesome!!! Thank you. Bad news and I am sooooo sorry, I forgot to bring my USB converter for my camera card, so I can't send pictures this week! But I think my companions want to go to the bookstore and print pictures today. If that's the case, then I will snail mail some to you! What a week to forget pictures!

Ahhhhhh SO the MTC is amazing!!! I seriously have the BEST companions ever!!! Sister L is from Utah, and Sister N is from Idaho. I've heard threesomes sometimes don't work, but these sisters are rock solid! They are hard workers, but we still have a TON of fun! I am so blessed. There are three other elders that form my district here. They are awesome! It's only been a week and we're already talking about the separation anxiety our district will have when we have to split up in Hong Kong!

So Friday I taught my first lesson in Cantonese!! Yes, our investigator only spoke Cantonese (or at least pretended to. . .). By Friday we could pray and bear our testimony, so our lesson was a bit rusty with just that. Saturday's lesson was rusty as well, we struggled to know how to say what we wanted, and then to understand our investigator, it was frustrating. Yesterday's lesson was awesome though! Wow! I can't believe it! We taught her a bit about the Book of Mormon and then encouraged her to read and pray about 3 Nephi 11. She had a few questions and we were able to figure out what she was saying and answer! It is incredible how fast we are learning here! It is amazing how much the Lord is blessing us! There is seriously no way I would be able to pray, bear my testimony, ask how someone is, tell time, and make requests in Cantonese on my own. This is really a miracle!

To answer some of your questions, the food is good. It's pretty processed, so I stick to salad most of the time. We have an hour to exercise each day, so I've really been content. There's an indoor track and weight machines, or we can run or walk outside.

I love you all sooooooo much! I hope you are having a great week!!!

Love,

Sister Nelson

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Using DearElder.com to write to Sister Nelson

DearElder.com has a service to write to missionaries in the MTC for free. Messages are printed and delivered to the missionary daily. From the DearElder.com homepage, click on "Provo MTC (FREE)" on the left side of the page.

You will need the following information to send your message:
Sister Kasey Nelson
MTC Box#: 113
Mission Code: CHN-HK
Estimated MTC Departure Date: 11/28/11

Missionaries stay VERY busy in the MTC. Her free time is very limited, but she will LOVE to get mail. Let me know if you have any questions.

MTC Day!!!!!!

Sister Nelson received her mission call back in April. It is amazing that 5 months can feel long and short at the very same time. The day is finally here!!!

Kent took her to lunch at Chili's restaurant and then took her to the Mission Training Center in Provo, Utah. Sister Nelson is now a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!!!!! Here are a few pictures of the day.

Sister Nelson and Grandpa Nelson

A stop for lunch at Chili's. Kent said that it was obviously MTC day at the Provo Chili's. They saw several other missionaries and families while they were there.

One more phone call with mom. The Provo temple is in the background.

Just before going into the MTC.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Visit with roommates at BYU

On Tuesday, Kasey enjoyed spending time her roommates and friends at BYU.

A Pre-Mission Run

A morning run past the Bountiful temple on the day before she starts her mission.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Leaving Home

Kasey and Kent left this morning to fly to Utah. They will visit Kent's dad and get the last few things ready before she enters the Mission Training Center (MTC) on Wednesday.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

I'm Going on a Mission!

Hello Everyone!
Only 11 days until I leave on my mission! I am so excited! As a missionary, I will be pretty busy, and my computer time will be limited, but I will have a chance to e-mail my family each week, and my mom will post my e-mails on this blog so you all can read about my experiences and adventures in the Missionary Traning Center (MTC) and in Hong Kong!
I am so excited for this opportunity to be a representative of the Lord, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as I teach the people of Hong Kong. I know that we have a Heavenly Father who loves all of his children very much and that through His son Jesus Christ we can be forgiven of our sins and be able to be with God again. This belief and knowledge has comforted me and made me so happy in my life and I am honored and anxious to share this joy with others. Naturally, I am also looking forward to learning an awesome new language, trying new food and living in a foreign country for a year and a half! What more could a twenty-one year old want?!
Thank you all for your support and encouragement as I have prepared for my mission. I am so blessed to have each of you in my life. You're the best!

Bye for now!

Love,
Sister Nelson