PICTURES!!! FINALE!

Here are some pictures of Katie in Italy!!!!!

The City She lives in! WHAT?!?! BEST DAY EVER!

Recognize these people??? Well, If you don't too bad. Life goes on.

Okay, okay. I will tell you. They are two missionaries from our home Stake.

Elder Anderson and Elder Healey!

• Happy Thanksgiving!‏

11/23/11

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Katie-Miss​ion

To Jill Nilson, Joe Nilson, Josie Nilson

Cara famiglia,

Ciao everyone! I really hope you are doing good! I bet you are having fun getting all ready for Thanksgiving tomorrow! I hope you all have fun! I will miss eating all that deliciousness and being with you all!

This week was definately a busy one. We had a 3 zone training on Friday, so we went up to Milan. It was absolutely wonderful! I love the trainings, Our President and his wife are simply amazing and we learn so much from them. We had the chance to watch the movie "17 Miracles". It was amazing. Have you all seen it yet? If not, go an buy it... and watch it this weekend... It is perfect for thanksgiving. As I watched that movie all I could think about was the faith of those Pioneers and their sacrifice to come to Zion. They were amazing! I am so grateful for their examples of Faith and sacrifice. I have been thinking a lot about their examples of Faith.. that is how strong I want my faith to be. I am going to work on it! I have really learned that Faith brings Miracles, and Obedience, blessings... It is soooo true!

At the conference we also got to see a lot of missionaries. I saw anziano Andersen and Anziano Healey... who told me Suzy got her call to Argentina!!! AHHHHH!!! I am sooooo excited for her... do you know that makes 9 of us on missions! SOOO excited!

I am grateful my Mission President constantly reminds us to look for miracles in our work. I saw a lot of miracles this past week. One was with Paola, yep, the 16 year old girl we dropped last week. We went back over to her house on Saturday to teach her mom, a new convert. But Sorella Garcia was not there... just Paola... We were stressed. My collega and I didnt plan on this and were worried since she was so mad last week. Well we went a head and started teaching about how God is our Heavenly Father, and it was going no where, she was just grumpy and not responding. So Slla Bowman just started asking her questions. We learned in our conference the power of inspiried questions, and I can tell you it is real. We cant even remember all the questions she asked, but suddenly Paola was bawling. She explained that she has been struggling so much with her family and that she feels so alone and felt that every missionary that has come to teach her only came because they wanted a baptism. Oh how we were grateful we came back! We talked to her about how much we loved her and were there to help her in anything she needed. She told us she was willing to start reading the Book of Mormon atleast to try.... MIRACLE, I think yes!

2 other Miracles... TThe other day We got on the bus to go and visit the salazars, Daniel is out of the Hospital! Thank you for Preisthood blessings! Anyway, There was a girl at the front of the bus and we where at the back. Sorella Bowman smiled at her and the girl then waved, so Sorella Bowman waved back. Then the girl came over to us. We had no clue who she was and asked if we had met her before. She said yes, just now when you waved to me. We were so surprised! We told her we were missionaries and asked if she would be interested in learning, she said yes and we will see her later this week! It was such a miracle! Then Last night we were on the bus home. We sit down and this man turns around in front of us and was like "Are you the missionaries from la chiesa di Gesu cristo dei santi degli ultimi giorni?" We responded yes... He then went on to tell us that he had been visiting the missionaries in Torino and was looking for them here. He said he was very religious and wants to learn. He also said that he has lots of friends who want to learn too! He told us to set up a time and he will make an event on facebook and they will all come so that we and the elders can teach them. We about died...! WHAT? So he might be crazy, but it is a miracle none the less! We are gonna call him tonight!

Well the work is going forward. We are kind of in a drought for people to teach, but we are gonna keep working hard no matter what!

Before I go, I just want to list all the things I am grateful for this year! I know I cant be with you all but I love you soooooo much!

I am thankful for... my family, you, my amazing siblings and mom and dad. I am thankful that my dad has the priesthood, that my mom has the strongest testimony, that my siblings make good decisions, that I have the tightest family around, that I have amazing cousins, aunts, uncles, and Grandmas! For amazing friends who have stayed so close to the gospel! For amazing friends who have served and are serving missions! I am thankful for the gospel! For a Heavenly Father who loves me and my family. For a Savior who died for me! For a Prophet who recieves modern day revelation! For General conference so we can hear the word of God! For the opportunity to be a missionary and share this joyful news here in Italy! I love being a missionary!

Have the best time tommorow and eat lots of grandmas fruit salad for me!

Love you,

Slla Nilson

• The Rains came down and the floods came up....‏

11/09/11

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Katie-Miss​ion

To Jill Nilson, Joe Nilson

Mia Famiglia!

I would like to commence this e-mail in letting you all know that since I last wrote to you I have left my apartment on 2 days!!! Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday (we got to go out for a bit on Monday) We were trapped in our appartment due to Flooding in GENOVA!! Yes!!! It was POURING for all three days... centro was completely under water. This empty river that we always drive past that is about 30 feet deep was completely full and overflowing. It was crazy, Actually 8 people died! I couldnt believe it! But dont worry... I am safe.... Our Mission president and bishop would not let us leave! WHAT! The crazy thing was that where we live there was only rain, not flooding... so it felt weird to stay inside. But we saw all the pictures at District meeting from where the anziani live.... water up past their knees!

Well when you have a week inside, you dont actually do much teaching... Alas, you really go crazy as a missionary when you have nothing to do! It didnt feel like a nice break or anything... more like stress cuz we couldnt see our investigators or members and couldnt be out working! We definately had a lot of time on our hands.... and lots of time to study. I finished the Book of Mormon (granted I was in 3 Nephi), We watched EVERY episode of the district, watched finding faith in christ, on the lords errand (twice), and did lots of comp study, Wackle, I know!! In reality, it turned out to be a good thing. My companion and I learned a lot and set a lot of new goals for this transfer! Can you all believe I am starting my 2nd TRANSFER! Crazy! We made goals to talk to more people and give 110% to our misisonary work!

We got to go out on Monday and put what we learned to the test! We made a goal to make sure that every time on the bus we talked to someone, this is hard for us cuz the buses are always so crowded and loud, and honestly I get nervous I wont understand people. but I studied a lot about Faith during those 3 days in and I KNOW That if you have faith, you can do ANYTHING!. And we did it! It was awesome. We went to pass by a less active and she didnt actually let us in, so we got back on the bus to head home. While on the bus, a lady came and sat by us. we started talking and ended up telling her all about the church! We got her number and she will be a referal for the other sisters! Then as a little extra bonus... we stopped by a fruit stand to get some clementines, they are basically to DIE for here! We have been there before and started chatting with the owner this time. we told him who we were and what we were doing, and just chatted for a bit. In the end, it was 2 kilos for 2 euro... he gave us 3 kilos and 2 bananas just for the 2 euro! Oh happy day! I love being a MISSIONARY!

It was such a great day! It just goes to show how much your attitude and determination to serve the Lord make ALL the difference on a mission! If you always remember that your purpose is to invite other to come unto Christ and love them as he would, its easy to do! Yesterday we were stuck in side again... alas! Until the night and we got to go have a lesson with claudia! Having lessons with her always make me so happy! She went to a YSA (GANS in italian) activity in Torino this weekend and said she has never had so much fun in her life! She said she felt the spirit so strong and just thought the whole time "This is where I am supposed to be! THIS IS RIGHT! i am so happy!" She said that over and over! OH CHILLS! It is amazing to see her life change!

Last miracle of the week, we met this girl named Cythia 2 weeks ago. We planned an appointment with her but she cancelled cuz she had to work. We have been calling and calling her and praying she would visit with us and NO response... we were sooo bummed cuz she was the best! We had pretty much given up and just decided that hopefully she would one day be interested again... and BOOM! She called us yesterday! She had just been visiting her family in Rome! we get to meet with her tomorrow!

Everyday of my mission I learn so much about how much HEavenly Father is aware of each of us! He LOVES his children and all he wants is for us to be happy! Hope everything is sooo good at home! I love you all!

Ciao for now,

Sorella Nilson

p.s. SHOUT OUT TO MAC DOG!!!!!!!!!!!!! VARSITY!, you rock my socks!

I know it is True

My Famiglia!

How are you all! It sounds like things are super busy right now! I am definately sad I am missing the play! Rock on Jake! I know you are awesome! Sounds like things are busy, but Thanksgiving is coming soon so that will be a nice break right? He he (easy for me to say!)

Well I want you to know that I am doing wonderful! We had another great week here in Genova! Man, everytime I walk down the streets here and look around me I just think, how lucky am I to be a Missionary... and in Italy! I just love it here! This past week was really busy, lots of lessons to teach after a week of being inside.

This week I had my first experience of having to drop an investigator. It was a young girl named Paola... (I don't know if I have ever talked about her before). She was doing so great and her life was changing, the trouble was, she didnt realize it was the gospel that was making the difference. On saturday we had a lesson that turned out to be disaster to say the least. We had an amazing lesson on faith and watched Finding faith in Christ. The spirit was so strong and Slla Bowman invited Paola to make a baptism date.... It was all down hill from there. She said she had already been baptized so she didnt need to, who were we to say we had the authority, that her faith would be enough in the end and that God still loved her even if she wasnt baptized. She said she didnt need to read some book to know the truth. BOOM... yep. It broke our hearts. I promise I was devestated... she had everything in her hands and just turned away! We hope that one day she will be willing to listen again. But the reason I share this experience with you is because it totally strengthened by testimony... how? you may ask... Well I will tell you. Because during everything she said, I was not phased one bit. The thought that came to mind mind, was "I am so sorry, but you are just so wrong!!!!" I bore my testimony to her that I KNEW Joseph Smith saw what he said he did! I KNOW he restored the church to the earth, and I KNOW That this way, by being baptized a member of this church, is the ONLY way back to our Heavenly Father. Yes, faith is important, but faith without action... is nothing! I LOVE THE GOSPEL! It is sooooo precious!!! I realized that as my heart broke as Paola turned away. AH! Don't take it for granted!

Now one more story! We have another girl named Liz who we are teaching, same age as Paola, 16. She came to church on sunday for the first time and LOVED IT! She has sooo many questions! Yesterday was the 3rd time we have met with LIz, we reviewed the Plan of Salvation with her because we actually taught it to her on her first lesson because of her questions, but that was 2 weeks ago so we wanted to review. We set out the first peace of the plan, the spirit World. I was about to talk and she was like "Oh I know this" and she went ahead and explained the entire plan to us! WHAT??? This little girl is amazing! She is reading the Book of Mormon, and Told us how she used to just think her life didnt have a purpose, but she is so happy to know it does, know that she knows about the plan of Salvation! AH!!! I LOVE THIS GIRL SOOO stinking much! She is awesome! I love being a missionary and seeing the joy the gospel brings to peoples lives!!! It is such a blessing!

I love you all so much and pray everyday for you!

SOrella Nilson

Il tempo vola!

Yo! This is a ShOuT OuT to all Y'alls that Write Katie!!!

Anyone can write to Katie's email but she will have to write you a letter back. She can only email her family.Her address is katie.nilson@myldsmail.net. Feel free to drop her a line....and oh she said today that she gets her regular mail on transfers....that means every 6 weeks (give or take). So, if you have written to her and she has not written back that is why!

Enjoy!

Family!

Yes, Yes, The time flies when you are a missionary! Can you believe it is already November??? How was the party? I hope you had fun! I attached a few pics of Mine and Sorella Bowman's Halloween Celebration... we had fun! Italians arent really into Halloween, but I took a second to dress up as a Magical Missionary complete with My Harry potter Sheet Cape and Wand courtesy of Jake! Thanks bud!

Well this week was awesome as usual! Claudia got the Holy Ghost on Sunday. We had a really awesome experience with her on Monday. We invited her to come with us to teach a lesson to a 16 year old girl named Liz. Liz is a friend of a member named Erica. Liz had lots of questions about where we go after death, what is soul, who am I... All the questions you love to hear as a missionary! We taught her about the plan of salvation. The real miracle was listening to Claudia! She bore her testimony of the book of mormon, described what it felt like the first time she felt the spirit, and told Liz that she understood where she was coming from because 6 weeks ago she was Catholic! It was so powerful to hear her testify of how her life is changed! I just love that Girl! And we will be meeting again with Liz later this week! Claudia also told us that She saw some pictures of a girl in our ward on her mission, and she thought of us. Then she imagined herself with a name tag. She said she prayed and promised Heavenly Father that as soon as she finished school, she would serve a mission! WHAT????! The gospel is amazing... That is ALL there is to it!

We have had a lot of neat experiences teaching people as we have bumped into them, or seen them on the street. I am really working on opening my mouth... I worry too much about not understanding what they say back to me, but I am trying really hard to have more faith! Last night we went to the Hospital. Lina Salazars son Daniel's appendix burst. They did an operation, but it was very infected. The anziani gave him a blessing and we are praying all will be well. We went there to comfort Lina, the least we can do for all that she does for us. While we were there a woman who saw Lina talking to us and crying came up to talk to us. She asked who we were and then starting asking a bunch of Questions. Her son is in the Hospital and she lost her mom a few years ago. Her name is Manuela. We told her about the restoration and that as part of Heavenly Fathers restored gospel, we can live with our families forever after this life. Well, just about as we were going to have a prayer, a woman walked up, and joined in the conversation. We she heard we were talking about Christ, she told us she totally believed in Christ, because she had see him. Yep. What do you say to that? Manuela then asked if we had seen Christ. We told her no, but that we had faith and that we knew he lived and was our Savior. Allora! Anyway, we gave her a pamphlet and told her to read it. We are hoping to see her when we go back to visit Daniel.

Well this week has been full of adventures! I finished my first transfer... cant believe it! I will be staying in Genova for the next transfer too! I LOVE IT here! I love getting to be apart of bringing the Gospel to others. I know that everyone says this... but when people talk about a mission being a sacrifice, It is really actually such a blessing! I know this is true! I feel so lucky to be here watching people come close to their Heavenly father! I know that it is through the gospel that we find true and lasting peace and happiness!

I hope all of you are having a great week! Good luck with the play and stuff! Have fun and know I love you and am always praying for you!

Love you!,

Slla Kates

P.S. Anziano Healey from our stake is totally in my Zone! And I was at a members house last night... Kate... she is from South Africa, and she showed me Dylan Mckinnons wedding announcement she had! I was like... What? He was in my ward! Apparently He served in the same ward I am serving in Here in Genova.

Oh and Dad, President Moon's Nephew, Anziano Thomas was in my district! He actually just got transfered... he will leave tomorrow, but we finally made the connection that we knew the same people!