Hello/Goodbye.

 This morning at church,

Claire gave a talk and reported on her mission,

 and the last 18 months of serving the people of Brazil and, of course, the Lord.

After Jane gave her farewell talk, including testimony in

her newly learned Portuguese.

She did exceptionally well!

Frankly, I was blown away by my girls.  

Holy moly, are they beautiful and bright!!

They radiate such love and joy.

And they both speak so clearly and confidently.

The best part about them, and what will make them

exceptional missionaries, is their desire to want to be disciples

of Christ.  They want to be good, improve and grow.

(Now Claire wants to find her prince Charming who 

 sees her potential, her beauty, and who, of course, will deserve her).

Jane will be a great missionary like Claire,

who was such a good leader!

I was just so overwhelmed by my beautiful girls, my family,

and the love Christ has for His children--me, you, all of us. 

Also, today I was released as the ward Relief Society president since

we are moving to a new ward (actually, it's a branch).

For over two years, I absolutely LOVED serving 

 the women in our congregation.

But my favorite part was serving and learning

 closely with my presidency, Kathrine, Susan, and Suzanne!!

I will miss them terribly.

***

On Sundays, and only Sundays (for some reason),

the Nies still all squish together in the second row of the car.

Greek Goddess.

 This morning I knocked out a few projects, including wallpapering

the back of the kitchen cabinets.

This is my go-to quick fix to brighten up and beautify spaces.

I swear I've done it in every house I've lived in.

The wallpaper is so cute with little woodland animals.

Stillestead is coming together slowly, one day at a time.

Then, Claire and I drove to the mall (remember malls?)

and went shopping for a dress for her tomorrow as she

gives a talk and reports to our church congregation about her mission.

We went to several places but ultimately found her a dress in Anthropologie.

She looks like a Greek goddess.

She's so lovely!

Then we had dinner together and talked about her next steps in life.

Coming home from a mission is hard.

Moving forward in life isn't as straightforward as it was on her mission.

In Brazil, everything was so exact and laid out.

 Each day she had a plan and was needed, and she experienced so much joy.

Coming home seems anti-climactic.

She misses her friends and feels a little lonely.

I told her my favorite advice from Bonnie L. Oscarson,

 "Life rarely goes exactly according to plan for anyone,

...aim for the ideal but plan for contingencies."

We're figuring it out one day at a time.

For now, she'll enjoy the rest of July at home, sleeping in, playing

with our family and spending time with Jane before she leaves.

But come August, she has a job lined up working at Barre3

and will begin applying for nursing schools.

Go, Claire, Go!!

Who's coming?.

 One of the things I love about Stillestead is our long driveway.  

It's covered with large mature trees on either side that touch each other in the center.

Our mailbox is at the end of the driveway, and in the afternoon

I announce to the Nies that I am taking Angus 

outside for a little walk to get the mail. 

Sometimes everyone joins me, somedays I can get Christian away from

his desk to stretch his legs, and sometimes no one comes.

Today Lottie joined me.  She and Angus ran ahead to get the mail first.

Somedays, I feel like I'm living in an Elosie Wilkins story.

Summer at Stillestead

Summer at Stillestead has been magical and full of :

-Reading

-Porch swinging

-Sleepy mornings

-Late nights

-Exploring the property

-Meeting our neighbors and other farms around us.

-Projects

-Trying to be the most supportive family, so Sister Nielson

 can thrive as a home MTC missionary.

-Motorcycle riding

-Fireworks in the evening

-Dinner on the porch 

-Organizing

-Catching up from the past 18 months with Claire

-Gardening

and,

-I have to admit, dreaming of Autumn and how Stillestead

will transform into beautiful colorful glory!

Oh, and enduring the worst loudest music that the

pirates play while they work.

Bound by Loving Ties.

Tonight Christian, Claire, Jane, and I attended the temple.

This would be our only chance to all be together before Jane

departs for her mission in Portugal in a few weeks.

And this is also the first time Clane has been together at the temple

 since being eligible and with full-use temple recommendations.

The evening was so tender and beautiful.

Being with my girls, serving alongside them, and feeling the

 peace and love they radiate while

feeling peace and love and direction from God

 was beautifully overwhelming...if that's even possible.

They are both so wise and devoted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ,

and to His commandments.

As their mother, I couldn't be happier.

"True religion, the tie that binds us to God and to each other, 

not only seals our family relationships in eternity 

but also heightens our delight in those family experiences while in mortality."

Jefferey R. Holland

Skip to the good part...

This morning Christian took the MTC shift with Jane at the church

but came home around 4:00 so he could yell

at the pirates for being so slow.

Ok, ok, not yell, but he did come home to work alongside them 

to try and get things done faster.

Claire took the evening shift.

Gigs mowed the lawn (with Lottie!),

and I worked on the porch getting stuff organized.

I wish we could just "skip to the good part." 

(ahhhh ahh ahhhh ahhh...you know that song?).

I want things in order now! I want my privacy back, too!

I can only take so much of this chaos!

But the good news is that the kitchen tile is finally finished. Yay!

Tomorrow I will clear off the counter and finally COOK DINNER!

The Nies are kinda over cereal night!

First Day

 Today Jane began her first day of the 14-day home MTC experience

and Stillestead is still a mess and WITHOUT internet!

Bummer! So, we arranged for her to go to our church building

 to study and do her 6-hour zoom conferences and lessons.

One of the mission rules is that Jane can never be alone- 

she always needs a companion, 

so our family split up hours of the day to be her

 special companion with Jane, and today was Ollie's day.

It's boring at the church building alone, so naturally Gigs tagged along.

They played basketball, and who knows what else they did for all those hours?

During Jane's 45-minute lunch break, they walked to Subway across 

from the building sounded like was a highlight for them. 

Ollie has been taking a summer seminary course since he is 

planning on graduating from high school a semester 

early to go on his mission

and wants the full 4 years of seminary credit. 

So, of course, I encouraged him to work on his seminary lessons

but somehow, and even being at the church ALL DAY, not much seminary got done.

But I did manage to get several texts throughout the day

from both boys saying things like:

"Mom, Ollie's being a jerk!"

or

"Gigs is bugging me so bad; why did he have to come?"

You know, typical stuff. Right?!

Mostly I just ignore it or tell them to give each other a big hug,

then they ignore me and don't send texts anymore.

Jane is a missionary!

This evening, after church and dinner 

(cold cereal...we're still not sufficiently eating 

from the kitchen quite yet), we drove to Apex, 

where President Bingham

(also, my second cousin, who we call "CB"), 

visited with Jane and our family

 before he set her apart as a full-time missionary.

On the drive, we witnessed the most beautiful rainbow, which stayed

vibrant and curled its way over the temple when we pulled into the parking lot.

It was a sign.  A sign from God that let me know that this is all good.

All of it; the heartache, tears, and sacrifices.

I felt so much better.

I felt at peace.

I told Jane that every time I see a rainbow, I will think about her,

and I'll probably cry.

(Remember Claire's sign was a heron?)

We met CB near the temple and walked around the grounds, 

talking and enjoying the evening before 

heading inside to meet in his office.

We gathered around the room, offering Jane our most heartfelt and inspired advice. 

Gig encouraged her to speak up with everyone. 

(Good advice from a teenager).

I urged her to look people in the eyes and recognize the 

light they bring when she engages with them.

Christian said she should connect with the people through music, and

through her tears, Lottie suggested: "to be happy and let go of any fear." 

which is pretty wise coming from a 10-year-old. 

Oliver told Jane to teach from The Book of Mormon and use the power

of its teachings.  (He will be such a dynamite missionary, too!).

Claire gave Jane the best advice, having JUST come home from her mission;

she said to trust in the Holy Ghost.

She explained that so many times, she was stumped about what to

do, where to go, and what to say, but learning to rely on

on the Holy Ghost gave her the confidence to move forward daily.

We all cried and laughed and then felt humbled as our Jane

turned into SISTER NIELSON right before our eyes.

She put her black tag on her chest, and just like that, her 547-day

mission began.

We drove home, made a treat from the super scarce panty 

(still working it up since moving), then went on the porch to watch

the boys light off fireworks to celebrate Jane.

I love my family!