This was one loong week! but first I wanted to tell you more about my area and my day to day life.Mala is pretty small but right on the beach, but all the houses are up in the hills which are just pure sand basically. but since we are up in the hills we have the BEST view of all the houses below us then the farms and where all the fruit is grown so its all pretty and green, then the beach! Its so pretty and the sunset every night is gorgeous too! A Lot of hills but I'm glad we are up high so we can see everything ;) But our area is kind of dirty and gross, which is basically all Peru. Garbage everywhere! dogs everywhere and dog poop everywhere. The houses these people live in aren't houses... they are more like shacks. The walls are like bamboo twigs or something tied together with tarps and ceilings, some if they are lucky have bricks with a sloppy job of being cemented together. No one really has floors its all sand and dirt so everything is just dirty. They all for the most part have electricity and the closer to the bottom of the hill they have running water. But its the way they all live so its normal. And in the windows of every house is little snacks and goodies where they try to sell whatever they can. yep its a totally different world! I've only seen like 3 cars in my area. Everyone either just walks or they have these things called mototaxies that are basically the front of a motorcycle with a bench attached to the back and covered. they only fit like 2 but they are everywhere. Tiny things though.

  ALL they drink here is Inca Kola. its like bubble gum flavored soda or something but it has caffeine so I just tell them pop makes me sick, so i just dont drink any type of soda here. which is probably better because all we eat is rice potatoes and chicken.. every meal. ha. and they serve YOU so its HUGE portions! ughh.. soo.. yes I'm going to get fat. :(

As for our house we have floors and walls and "running" water ha, and toilets that flush so I am very grateful!

Kay now for my week! Tuesday I experience my first real earthquake! It was small but lasted about a minute, I was confused what was going on for about half of it though. So we were planning for 3 baptisms this Saturday but everyone was starting to get kind of iffy and we were having trouble with the parents, so we started a fast Wednesday night for all 3 of them. Then we had mutli zona with the president I didn't understand much.. But then next night one of the girls, Piera that was suppose to be baptized called us and told us to come to her house so we did and they were all happy and said that they all agreed they wanted her to be baptized so we were super happy, then the other kid Valentin we got the signature of his dad which was really scary cause he is like a drunk and doesn't like us. so yeah it was all great and dandy! 

Then the other girl Briza, we go to her house and she says shes not ready and doesn't want to so we change her date, then we run back to the church and our zone leader was there and he says call her and tell her to come her I want to talk to her, so we do, and she comes and he talks to her for like an hour then comes out and announces she is getting baptized the next day, but the only time she could was in morning so we had her baptism at 7 IN THE MORNING! Then that night was the baptism of Piera and Valentin, Piera came with her parents and they were all cute and happy, but Valentin wasn't there so we call him and his mom says oh he is sick he cant come but in the background we hear him saying no I'm fine Hermanas! then she hangs up on us. 

AHHHH I'm out of time!!! to be continued next week promise! sorry!

but as for your question about Kylee's call, I think that is perfect for her, and actually when I was reading Joseph Smith history last week the thought came to my mind I bet Kylee goes there, cause she always talked about her experience visiting there. so yeah I think its perfect! 

LOVE YOU GUYS!!! 

-Hermana Nielsen

This week we now officially have 11 people with BAPTISM DATES! HOLY SMOKES! So we are suuper busy! and 8 investigators came to church!!! WOOHOO! Best day every! This week I also went on exchanges with Hna Rivera from Honduras and Hna Munos from Chile, I was in the area Chincha. OH yeah and my area is Mala peru, not Rala haha oops! But Chincha was super gross and ugly, I didn't realize how much good I have it in Mala til I left. I saw 5 dead dogs! just in the sidewalk, and they were just black and already decayed and people just walk around them, one didn't have a head! no idea where it was... but yeah. But it was good, Hna Rivera only has a month left so she taught me a lot and I could understand her Spanish really well! better then Hna Galo! It was a 24 hour exchange but with a 4 hour drive... so a lot of driving in buses. We spent a lot of time at the Gallegos family this week because the mom is sick.. they are awesome! they have 6 kids which is a ton here! the kids are all baptized that are old enough but the parents aren't yet because they aren't married because it cost a lot and is hard to get married here so we´ve been helping them with there papers. We are also teaching a bunch of kids! There is this huge hill, and at the top tons of mixed friends and families living together, so it started out as a few but now we have a bunch of them interested. from ages 12-18 they all came to church! and they all come to the activities we have! They are all also committed for the 22 of march for baptism. So we are excited about that. 

As far as spanish comes, its about the same.. I kind of had a break down this week cause now its not that I cant talk to anyone its that I want so badly to be apart of the lessions and teach these kids and families but when i try to say something more personal outside the lesson words I cant say much and so its just ends in a mess... So now my motivation is to be able to teach these people, cause now i do love them and want to help them. 

Hope all is well at home. Cant believe amber is with you guys! I hope I have just as a hard time ending my mission as her, she really is the greatest example! Love you guys so much! Its not easy down here, but salvation is not cheap either. I only have 18 months to serve, but an eternity to think about how I did!

- Hermana Nielsen

The computers here are so slow!!  ugh. BUT! this week was A LOT better! We had a baptism on Saturday for alexis. He is Italian and 14, but super acceptive and always comes to all the church activities. He was really happy. :) ALSO in all my complaining last week I forgot to mention that on my second day here we were on a 30 min bus ride to our zone meeting and I got separated from my companera, i sat next to a random guy. I started by asking if he was from Peru (all in spanish) then explained where I was from and who I was and about my mission. then I explained the book of mormon and gave it to him! and all I could basically say was i promise this will change your life. haha. but as the best two years would say ¨ I just placed my first book of mormon!¨ thats for cody! but yeah its getting better, now i can understand my companion so she has to translate everyone elses spanish into my type of understanding spanish so i rely on her a lot! but yeah hopefully I have more time next week! i have letters i wrote that i will send hopefully soon! love you! and I'm so jealous you get to see Sister Nielsen this Friday!!!!! ahh!

Well I made it! And i have never been more excited for p-day since i havent had it in 2 weeks! SO much to say but i have NO TIME like always so Ill try to get in as much as possible. Tuesday morning I said my goodbyes to my district and friends. It was really hard. One of the districts sang God be with you til we meet again for us and it was SOOO GOOD! Oh my! Anyways I left the CCm and met with Presidente Douglas. I got my companion Hermana Galo, from honduras. Who speaks NO ENGLISH! Super cute and super nice and a GREAT missionary but its so hard to figure out what we are both trying to say. The first 2 days I was feeling really overwhelmed, and i was super homesick for the CCM. mostly i think just because i missed being able to talk and laugh with people in english, and i was missing my district a TON, it was really hard. But i just kept praying and focusing on why i was here. Finally i met a girl named karen, who is a member but we still visit and teach her, she is my age and was just super patient and tried to talk with me and would just smile and just loved me and it helped alot and i realized i Love it here I love the poeple I love the gospel, the language is the only barrior I have that is making me feel this way. So ive been praying for patience and working to understand and speak it as much as possible. And now with a week in, im doing so much better. And i know im gonna love it here. Im in Rala, its a tiny farm/ dessert area.very poor. the houses are literally one room made of bricks or straw but dirt floor and one bed. we are lucky we have a bathroom in  our room. Its all hills of SAND! so im getting my work out. But yeah it was a hard adjustment but its getting better, we have a TON of investagators like 28 or something and 8 with baptism dates within the next 2 weeks. so we are always busy. My mind is kind of scrambled and I have no time left. BUt i love you guys! Hopefully i can get more in next time!  My address is the mission home thats in my call packet. and ill get you a scrip and picture next time! Miss you guys! But im glad im here. if i could just learn spanish a little faster everything would be perfect! con mucho amor!