Transfer week, are you ready for this? - 22 September 2010
Transfers: Not a single Sister in the entire mission moved. I know. This transfer will be 6 months that I'll be with Sis. Ferrell. After this she only has 6 more weeks until she goes home, so I'll probably stay with her those too. That will be 7 1/2 months with her! My life did a huge flipperoo. I went from changing every 6 weeks to staying stagnant.
The Wolfville Sisters are still living with us though, that keeps us busy. Sister Johnson has started working part of the day. She is doing loads better, which is good because she isn't someone who likes to be babied and stay inside. She is a Get 'er done kind of person and it's been hard for all of us to see her have to stay in and not even be able to physically handle the entire situation. They're still looking for an apartment for them but there hasn't been anything yet. We don't know how long they'll be here but we'll enjoy it while it lasts. It's great because we can breathe, we're not attached at the hip to our companions anymore. President has told us to just keep doing exchanges. So, we'll switch every couple of hours, it's fun.
Andrew, congrats on the converts who are staying active. That's a great feeling. I was just informed of some sad news. Terry, the convert in Halifax, has decided to stop going to church for awhile. This is a decision he has made and informed the missionaries of. I'll just keep him in my prayers and hopefully he'll realize what he's missing. I was also informed though of some great news. Daylen, the investigator in Wolfville with a baptismal date that fell off the face of the planet. Well, Bro. Flanagan (Daylen's fellowshipper) called the Wolfville Sisters and told them that he bumped into Daylen on the street and got his new address and phone number and he's looking forward to meeting with them again. This made Sis. Brandley and I go ecstatic! I hope that goes well, they still have to wait until they have an apartment though...
I'm just rambling, I don't really have anything important to say except that we had an investigator come to our Book of Mormon read last night and it sounds like he's going to come every week. OH! AND There is a new family in the Branch, the Gionet's. They're 24 years old and they have a 22 month old named.....LIAM!!!! It's CRAZY! I'm sad that I'm missing Liam and Carter start growing up. I'm going to have to put in some extra babysitting hours when I get back to catch up with all this lost time.
I just reread my email and I realized that I sound very homesick and trunky. Don't worry, I'm not. I just don't have anything else occupying my mind right now. Hopefully a hymn or something will get stuck there soon. LOVE YOU ALL!
Sister Nicholls
So you think I've seen it all...? - 15 September 2010
So, I may have mentioned earlier that there is a Sister Missionary (Sister Johnson) who is serving in Wolfville right now who is extremely sick because of the mold in the apartment there. (I'm glad that it didn't affect me at all). Well, she has been sick for about a month now and within the last week, chaos has ensued. We (Sis. Ferrell and I) got out of a lesson on friday afternoon and discovered we had 3 voicemail messages. That NEVER happens. One was from an investigator, that was good. But the other 2 have flipped our world upside down. One was from the zone leaders telling us that the Wolfville Sisters were moving in with us. The other was Sis. Johnson herself singing a message to us about how their apartment is killing her and she's being dramatic. (She's hilarious!) Anyway, Sis. Johnson had gone to the Doctor friday morning and they told her that her body had reached a toxic level from being exposed to mold and that she had to get out of her apt. ASAP! So, they packed a couple suitcases and headed over, we only had a couple hours notice. That was friday, they're still here! It's been fun. Sis. Johnson can't work, she's not very functional right now. So we take turns "babysitting" her and the other 2 go out and work. It's been exciting. I like working with Sis. Brandley. So, we don't know how long they'll be here. Transfers are next week and they'll most likely transfer them both and possibly close the area, at least to Sisters. I know, I can't believe this either. Don't worry, no one is in real danger. Our Zone leaders and Elder Tanner are taking care of it and we're fine being a foursome here, it's actually really fun!
Thanks for all of the birthday wishes! Mom, I love that skirt you sent. The sweater is too big though. What do you want me to do? I can send it back to you if you'd like. So, I woke up this morning and on the washroom door were a bunch of different pieces of construction paper. At the top was "Happy Birthday" and then in half sheets they had a word starting with each letter of Dianna and a picture to go with it. They had used some creativity. This is what they said: Duvet (because you're comforting, Intinerent (about every 6 weeks), Arizona, Nucleus, Natty ((I had to look that up)), Ardent (about the gospel) and then another paper saying "We love you". I live with the 3 best Sister missionaries there are!!! Today, we went to Pizza Delight for lunch because I could eat free!!! AND THEN we went to the ZOOOOOO!!!! I saw a Zonkey! And a bunch of other cool things. I wish I had more time, but the computer is going to push me off in about 30 seconds, AH! I love you, love you, love you!!!!!
Sister Nicholls
Another crazy week! - 8 September
So, we finally got back to our beds and everything last Wednesday night after all the fun of Sister's conference. I fell asleep faster than ever that night. Unfortunately the night didn't go as planned. Here is how it actually went:
There I was at 4:15 am, asleep. I heard the gentle sound of rain hitting the roof. My initial thought was "Man, and I didn't even get my rain boots yet." I just rolled over and tried to get back to sleep. The noise got louder. Since it was keeping me up I decided to take a look out the window and watch it for a little while. When I got to the window I didn't see any rain, I saw something completely different. I didn't want to believe my eyes so I went and put my glasses on. Sure enough, what I saw was our next door neighbor's porch on fire! I smacked Sis. Ferrell (under the covers) on her leg and exclaimed "Sis. Ferrell, the neighbor's house is on fire!!!" We both jump up and get our shoes on and she grabs the keys and the phone (smart girl) and we head outside. By this time people were shouting WAKE UP! to get the people out of the house. (Every one's fine) Someone told us to move our car because we were parked between our house and the one on fire and they were afraid something might happen to it. So we moved it down the side street to a parking lot. We started walking back to our house (We live above a business in a 100 year old Victorian house) and there was smoke, embers, and ash flying in the air and the house was just engulfed in flames. It was just like in the movies, but worse because it was so real. A fire truck had pulled in between our houses and were laying out fire hoses when an electrical wire exploded and sent sparks flying everywhere and someone yelled "Live wire! Live wire!" I stopped Sis. Ferrell in her tracks and told her we couldn't go back to the house, it wasn't safe. I was terrified that our house was going to catch fire and burn as well. Since it was really hot the day before we were sleeping with all the windows open so we were afraid of all the stuff in the air going into our house but we decided there was nothing inside more important than ourselves so we stayed away. People on the street had come outside and were watching this unfold. What really got me was that there was an older couple who was standing outside in their bathrobes SMOKING! Seriously?! My heart was pounding because I was so startled and my body was still VERY tired. We didn't know what to do because we couldn't go home! We decided to call our Branch President. We told him the situation and he allowed us to come wait at his house. So we drove over there but we had to take the extremely long way because we live on the main street that goes to his house and it was blocked by firetrucks. On our way over we had to pull over for 5 trucks to pass us. So, there we were, in our pajamas, driving to our Branch President's house super early in the morning with nothing to our name. Sis. Ferrell worried because she didn't even have her license with her. We got to President Muise's house and we sat on the couch and chatted with him and his wife for awhile. In the background they had the weather channel on and this didn't NOT help!! All the channel was talking about was hurricane Earl that was supposed to hit us Friday night and Saturday! This just added to our worry and stress. Around 6:30 we decided to try and head home. We had to take the long way again and still had to park down the street because of all the trucks. I felt so weird walking back to the house because we had to walk in between a bunch of firetrucks and, literally, over fire hoses. I was waiting for someone to ask us what we were doing, but they didn't. We finally get back to the house and what do you think was the first thing we did? Grab our cameras and run back out of course! We're sad we didn't get to take any pictures of the actually fire but we got quite a few pictures of the damage and the DOZEN firetrucks that were there!!! Now our next door neighbor's house is black and there is caution tape everywhere and they still don't know what caused the fire. What's especially sad about this is that the house was a salon downstairs and the owners lived above so they truly lost everything.
Sorry that was long, but I wanted to share all the details. We were so tired we ended up sleeping through our studies. I felt bad but not at the same time.
Later that morning we had District meeting and guess what mom!? I got my boots! The Zone leaders had picked up the mail before we had sis. conference but we hadn't seen them so they were practically holding them hostage. But I was SOOOO grateful because I got them just in time for the "Hurricane". Hurricane Earl turned into a Tropical storm before it reached us but it still was SUPER windy and SUPER wet. I put those boots to good use! We were lucky though, we didn't lose our power, but ALOT of Nova Scotia did. We prepared for it though. We made sure we had food and flashlights and that was all easy. The hard part was water. We had already been drinking the food storage water because the water at our apartment was BLACK! We get our water from a well and when the fire department sucked out all that water for the fire it stirred up all the sediment so we had the nastiest looking water for about 4 days. I didn't dare shower and just washed my face in the sink, but even then, I had to watch for a clear break to get a handful. The same went for brushing my teeth. It was an adventure!
Family, I love you. I'm so grateful for the prayers and letters of support. I hope that all is going well with school and work and friends and family and everything. Make sure that you ALWAYS remember that I love you. Distance makes the heart grow fonder.
Sister Nicholls
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
Andrew Update - 6 September 2010
Los Linderos - 6 September 2010
Well, surprisingly I am not in Chepica anymore. I am with yet ANOTHER latino in a place called Los Linderos, in the city of Buin. There is a zoo nearby, which we will totally visit as a zone one day. I am almost 100% sure I am going to train this next change, because I am killing my comp this change. Elder Mejia. From Honduras. And after I kill him, I will train, I just know it. I am so excited to find out. Leaving the sector was so hard. 8 investigators went to church with us last week, and over these last 3 months, we have had an average of 6 investigators go every single week. Incredible. My amaxing family, with Alex, Maria, Kena, Angeles, Katy, and Felipe, were soooo sad. Kena and Angeles were crying up a storm. It made me feel a little weird, because they were crying harder than Emily cried when I left for the mission. They gave me a lot of cool stuff though. I gave them a little electronic piano, a rubiks cube, and wrote letters, so that they could have stuff to always remind them of me. They gave me a big Chilean flag, with notes and names written all over it, and we took a bunch of pictures. I cried only a little tiny bit, but man, Kena and Angeles were BAWLING. Not just crying, but the kind where you cant breath, and you start making kind of groaning noises because your lungs dont work right. Maria started to really cry too. It was a really sad moment. I left them a few letters that said if they get baptized, I could be able to come back and do the baptism, so we can see each other again, and visit a bit. Hopefully they keep progressing in the gospel, and get baptized. They would made GREAT members, because they are just so fun, and loving.
I got more DearElders, and totally forgot to bring them AGAIN. I am absolutely horrible with that. I remember Lauren was saying a lot about how crazy and robotic her new school is. It reminds me of the book The Giver, and 1984. Scaryness. Instead of raising children, we are growing cyborgs. Its odd that Lauren is receiving such top notch education, when the majority of my investigators cant even read of write. So different here.This last Sunday being fast and testimony meeting, I got to give my last testimony, and everyone was choked up. One Hermana said a lot of good stuff about me, and said "I have to confess something, I hated Elder Nicholls when he got here, but I got to know him really well, and now I love him more than these other Elders here by far." Then she went on to tell stories of examples of love I have shown, and that everyone should strive to follow my example of being more Christlike. What lies. If that is true, I am 100% different than from before the mission.
Lauren, I am glad to hear that you are going to keep your promise with me about waiting to date for me. Like, you turn 16 about 2 weeks before I get back, right? So it should not be too hard to wait. And, when I get back, I am going to buy myself a motorcycle as fast as I can. And I am going to take you to seminary every morning on it, take you out to lunch, to school, whatever you want. I want you to be a cool, popular girl. Ok? Deal? I wonder what Mom and Dad have to say about that..
And what do you think about Andy? I think I have decided that my name is now Andy. Mom, you can call me Drew, but to my friends, I am going to tell them to call me Andy. It sounds really cool to me right now, which is weird, because I hated it before the mission. I visited my converts yesterday to say my goodbyes, and I got a letter from the girl, and I learned that she really does understand the gospel, and the importance of it. I feel really good about them being able to retain their membership in the church. And I found out that my converts in Villa el Sol still go to church every week! Cool!
So this saturday, we got to go to the Temple in Santiago. The Chepican government lent us a BUS! We declined it, and accepted a van instead, because we only had 11 people going. But that is so sweet that they offered that! Wow! 3 converts went, and only one was brave enough to do baptisms. I was a witness, and witnessed like 200 baptisms. They only had 1 prieshood holder to do baptisms! I would have done it too, but missionaries are not able to. I understand why, because the majority of the participants were Laurels from surrounding areas. Yep. That is probably a big reason. But everybody had a really great experience, even though one kid threw up twice in the van. Our driver was really cool and patient, and turns out he is Kenas Dad! Weird!
Well, I gotta go, and I promise next week I will write more, and answer questions from the DearElders, with EFY, and everything... Candy bingo... hiking... Alpine slide... But I gotta go. I love you all so much, and am very grateful for my new shoes and belt and clothes. LOVE YOU! CHAO!-Elder Nicholls
Sweet - 30 August 2010
No way Austen is already home!?!?!? That`s crazy fast!!! It seemed like he left like when Enoch left! Time just flies by here on the mission! I am not even kidding! I am going to be home in like 3 months from now, judging how fast time is going! I almost have 9 months now! Next time I write you guys, I will be like 2 days from 9 months. Yes, that sounds like nothing, but it seems like I have been on the mission 4 months! I can`t even remember the MTC! Yes Mom, I got both of the packages this week. My mail hasn`t arrived to you guys yet? I`m going to go by the mail today then to see if they even sent it out, and see what`s going on here... But I love the boots you guys sent, they worked perfect in the rain! Because my feet were nice and dry! :) I love the ties! They are too nice actually, because I am afraid to wear them, and get them dirty! Lots of the missionaries covet them. But the shoes fit perfect, my peelers too, and I have already started using the balloons. I make them for the little kids, and that helps us get into the house so easy, like Dad used to tell me. Playing with the kids, and putting the importance on them, helps the parents understand we are not here to fight and destroy the family.So this week I had my first "Fight" with a seventh day adventist. Halfway through the lesson, I told him "Ok, now we are going to move on to another topic and you are NOT going to mention the word saturday." It worked for a little, but he went back to focusing everything on saturday. He wouldn`t let us use the book of Mormon AT ALL, so we had to practice our mastery with the Bible. We talked about a lot of scriptures that say an APOSTASY will come, and later, a RESTORATION. But didn`t pay any attention to anything. He just wanted to fight about stupid Saturday. But somehow we set a return appointment, and left him with the compromise that he will pray about what we have talked about. I
Dad, The email you sent me sounds familiar... "2 men can do anything..." Maybe Neil L. Anderson from April Conference...?? Haha. I am so pro with scriptures and talks and stuff now. I can`t even believe myself.
So this week, we did divisions almost everyday, so I only worked with Elder Carpio, the Peruvian. But we broke the record of lessons taught, and news found in Chepica, for the last year. We taught 6 lessons with member, 22 others, and found 13 news. That`s not a heck of a lot, but is more than Chepica has seen in a long time. We also had 6 people in Sacrament meeting, and we have like 5 baptismal dates. This has been a record week. And I might be moving to another sector this week, because the sector might go from 4 missionaries to 2, and I might be going. I have no idea, and won`t find out until this saturday to see if I leave monday. Intense.
Well Dianna, sound like you guys are having some cool experiences over there in Canada, visiting around, and having cool experiences like that in the road. I do really love when people mock and laugh, because It shows to other people that watch how we really are. People accuse us of obligating people to do stuff, and that we always yell and make people feel bad. But when they see us offer service, and they yell at us to tell us GO AWAY, people see that, and stop and think a little. How do you teach the first lesson? You do teach the restoration first too right? What do you focus on? How do you convince the people best to listen and believe this message? Any hints on how to teach the restoration?
Jenn- I cannot believe how big the guys are! Liam and Carter... And bald! BAAALD!!!Well I am not in my sector right now, because I am killing my comp this week, so we are in Paniahue visiting his converts, so I do not have any more time to write. I am so happy for your love and packages and support. I look forward to obtaining more experience and stories so I can share them with you all for my entire life. I love you all. Chao!-Elder Nicholls
Not a teenager - 23 August 2010
Well, I am officially old.
I can no longer say I am 19 years old, nor a teenager. Not like I have even said the word teenager in the last 8 months... English is such a foreign language to me sometimes. Weird! So you guys got to listen to D. Todd Christofferson yesterday? Cool! Weird too, because Saturday morning our ENTIRE MISSION along with ALL OF SANTIAGO WEST MISSION got together and we listened to Richard G. Scott talk, in Spanish. He talked a lot about the life AFTER the mission. That the first thing we should do after the mission is immediately look for a wife. AND study. Not just study. But find a wife, and that is more important. And I have a feeling that he was referring to that the world isn`t going to be lasting too long. Scary stuff. But it was a really cool talk, and he gave a really nice testimony about God`s love for us as his children.
So you guys talked about the iron rod yesterday? Weird, because I had to give a talk yesterday, and they asked me to prepare it an hour before sacrament meeting started, and I talked about 1 Ne. 8, and the song "The Iron Rod" and talked about what they all mean. I wanted to draw it out, but that kind of thing isn`t appropriate in sacrament meeting. But I went through every point, and described them, and challenged everybody to read the Book Of Mormon 10 minutes a day, regardless of whatever happens. Told them about the falls of iniquity. Told them clearly that is they do not read the Book of Mormon, that their testimonies will fall, and they will fall from the church, and lose the blessings of God. It was well harsh, but full of love. I still play organ, and people are so grateful for that. For my birthday, so far I have gotten 3 things. And I am sure more are coming as we visit people during the week. Our investigating family gave me a keychain with my name on it, and a sister in the branch gave me two sweet ball point pens with a cool grip in a fancy case. And lastly, a sister invited us over to eat lunch: Chicken legs, potatoes, salad, and rice.
So being in a trio isn`t so bad. We actually did divisions almost all week, so we could double the work. And one of my companions talked to one of the assistents to the president about the changes that are coming. He won`t tell me everything he said, but gives me little hints, saying I am going to be the branch president in two weeks, and there are still going to be 4 missionaries in Chepica. I don`t know if I should believe him. But in two weeks from today, we will know for sure! So exciting! I want to train, or do SOMETHING!!
In the big conference, I saw ALL my district from the MTC! We all got together, and took some pictures. Elder Kimball, from the MTC, still hates me basically. I ran up and gave him a hug, and told him I missed him, and I felt bad for the times we had in the MTC, and that I want to be his friend, and forget about the past, and enjoy the work together, and he just said "Ok." Looking away from me, and walked away. Lame. Whatever. I am doing my part to be his friend. But everyone else in my district was so happy. Because 2 of them I hadn`t seen from more than 6 months. Elders Kimball and Miles I hadn`t seen for 6 months. I was so happy to see them.
Mom your package is here! The zone leaders got it, and I will pick it up on Wednesday when we travel to Santa Cruz to have district meeting. I am so excited to get it! This Sunday we only had 2 investigators in church, because the family that went last week was sick, and nobody left the house all day. I hope they keep going. We taught the word of wisdom this week, to test their testimony, and how much they really want to change their life.
Two days during the week, we rode our bikes FOREVER to do permaneced. It`s a program to find less active members, and share the permaneced message, and try and get them back to church. But the members for this week live FAR AWAY. We had to ride our bikes FAST in one direction for half an hour to get there. But, we shared a lot of messages, but nobody came to church. It is horrible here. There are sectors that have 700 members in the sector, and only 40 people that go to church. HORRIBLE!
During comp inventory, the other Elders complimented me on teaching really well, and always showing love to the people here. I honestly had no idea if I teach well or not, but they said that I "surprised them with how well I teach, it being my second language, having only 8 months on the mission." Sweet. They told me that there was a lot they could learn from me. I love the mission! It is just so worth all the efforts!
Well I am running out of time. Dianna I like your story about the dude with the cross in his backyard. Don`t you like the weird traditions of other religions? People`s beliefs and priorities. Well, I have 2 minutes left. I love you all so much, and for your diligence in writing me every week. I got 3 more dear elders this week in the conference, and I am going to read them and take notes to answer some more questions you have asked. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! Chao!
-Elder Nicholls
Well, surprisingly I am not in Chepica anymore. I am with yet ANOTHER latino in a place called Los Linderos, in the city of Buin. There is a zoo nearby, which we will totally visit as a zone one day. I am almost 100% sure I am going to train this next change, because I am killing my comp this change. Elder Mejia. From Honduras. And after I kill him, I will train, I just know it. I am so excited to find out. Leaving the sector was so hard. 8 investigators went to church with us last week, and over these last 3 months, we have had an average of 6 investigators go every single week. Incredible. My amaxing family, with Alex, Maria, Kena, Angeles, Katy, and Felipe, were soooo sad. Kena and Angeles were crying up a storm. It made me feel a little weird, because they were crying harder than Emily cried when I left for the mission. They gave me a lot of cool stuff though. I gave them a little electronic piano, a rubiks cube, and wrote letters, so that they could have stuff to always remind them of me. They gave me a big Chilean flag, with notes and names written all over it, and we took a bunch of pictures. I cried only a little tiny bit, but man, Kena and Angeles were BAWLING. Not just crying, but the kind where you cant breath, and you start making kind of groaning noises because your lungs dont work right. Maria started to really cry too. It was a really sad moment. I left them a few letters that said if they get baptized, I could be able to come back and do the baptism, so we can see each other again, and visit a bit. Hopefully they keep progressing in the gospel, and get baptized. They would made GREAT members, because they are just so fun, and loving.
I got more DearElders, and totally forgot to bring them AGAIN. I am absolutely horrible with that. I remember Lauren was saying a lot about how crazy and robotic her new school is. It reminds me of the book The Giver, and 1984. Scaryness. Instead of raising children, we are growing cyborgs. Its odd that Lauren is receiving such top notch education, when the majority of my investigators cant even read of write. So different here.This last Sunday being fast and testimony meeting, I got to give my last testimony, and everyone was choked up. One Hermana said a lot of good stuff about me, and said "I have to confess something, I hated Elder Nicholls when he got here, but I got to know him really well, and now I love him more than these other Elders here by far." Then she went on to tell stories of examples of love I have shown, and that everyone should strive to follow my example of being more Christlike. What lies. If that is true, I am 100% different than from before the mission.
Lauren, I am glad to hear that you are going to keep your promise with me about waiting to date for me. Like, you turn 16 about 2 weeks before I get back, right? So it should not be too hard to wait. And, when I get back, I am going to buy myself a motorcycle as fast as I can. And I am going to take you to seminary every morning on it, take you out to lunch, to school, whatever you want. I want you to be a cool, popular girl. Ok? Deal? I wonder what Mom and Dad have to say about that..
And what do you think about Andy? I think I have decided that my name is now Andy. Mom, you can call me Drew, but to my friends, I am going to tell them to call me Andy. It sounds really cool to me right now, which is weird, because I hated it before the mission. I visited my converts yesterday to say my goodbyes, and I got a letter from the girl, and I learned that she really does understand the gospel, and the importance of it. I feel really good about them being able to retain their membership in the church. And I found out that my converts in Villa el Sol still go to church every week! Cool!
So this saturday, we got to go to the Temple in Santiago. The Chepican government lent us a BUS! We declined it, and accepted a van instead, because we only had 11 people going. But that is so sweet that they offered that! Wow! 3 converts went, and only one was brave enough to do baptisms. I was a witness, and witnessed like 200 baptisms. They only had 1 prieshood holder to do baptisms! I would have done it too, but missionaries are not able to. I understand why, because the majority of the participants were Laurels from surrounding areas. Yep. That is probably a big reason. But everybody had a really great experience, even though one kid threw up twice in the van. Our driver was really cool and patient, and turns out he is Kenas Dad! Weird!
Well, I gotta go, and I promise next week I will write more, and answer questions from the DearElders, with EFY, and everything... Candy bingo... hiking... Alpine slide... But I gotta go. I love you all so much, and am very grateful for my new shoes and belt and clothes. LOVE YOU! CHAO!-Elder Nicholls
Sweet - 30 August 2010
No way Austen is already home!?!?!? That`s crazy fast!!! It seemed like he left like when Enoch left! Time just flies by here on the mission! I am not even kidding! I am going to be home in like 3 months from now, judging how fast time is going! I almost have 9 months now! Next time I write you guys, I will be like 2 days from 9 months. Yes, that sounds like nothing, but it seems like I have been on the mission 4 months! I can`t even remember the MTC! Yes Mom, I got both of the packages this week. My mail hasn`t arrived to you guys yet? I`m going to go by the mail today then to see if they even sent it out, and see what`s going on here... But I love the boots you guys sent, they worked perfect in the rain! Because my feet were nice and dry! :) I love the ties! They are too nice actually, because I am afraid to wear them, and get them dirty! Lots of the missionaries covet them. But the shoes fit perfect, my peelers too, and I have already started using the balloons. I make them for the little kids, and that helps us get into the house so easy, like Dad used to tell me. Playing with the kids, and putting the importance on them, helps the parents understand we are not here to fight and destroy the family.So this week I had my first "Fight" with a seventh day adventist. Halfway through the lesson, I told him "Ok, now we are going to move on to another topic and you are NOT going to mention the word saturday." It worked for a little, but he went back to focusing everything on saturday. He wouldn`t let us use the book of Mormon AT ALL, so we had to practice our mastery with the Bible. We talked about a lot of scriptures that say an APOSTASY will come, and later, a RESTORATION. But didn`t pay any attention to anything. He just wanted to fight about stupid Saturday. But somehow we set a return appointment, and left him with the compromise that he will pray about what we have talked about. I
Dad, The email you sent me sounds familiar... "2 men can do anything..." Maybe Neil L. Anderson from April Conference...?? Haha. I am so pro with scriptures and talks and stuff now. I can`t even believe myself.
So this week, we did divisions almost everyday, so I only worked with Elder Carpio, the Peruvian. But we broke the record of lessons taught, and news found in Chepica, for the last year. We taught 6 lessons with member, 22 others, and found 13 news. That`s not a heck of a lot, but is more than Chepica has seen in a long time. We also had 6 people in Sacrament meeting, and we have like 5 baptismal dates. This has been a record week. And I might be moving to another sector this week, because the sector might go from 4 missionaries to 2, and I might be going. I have no idea, and won`t find out until this saturday to see if I leave monday. Intense.
Well Dianna, sound like you guys are having some cool experiences over there in Canada, visiting around, and having cool experiences like that in the road. I do really love when people mock and laugh, because It shows to other people that watch how we really are. People accuse us of obligating people to do stuff, and that we always yell and make people feel bad. But when they see us offer service, and they yell at us to tell us GO AWAY, people see that, and stop and think a little. How do you teach the first lesson? You do teach the restoration first too right? What do you focus on? How do you convince the people best to listen and believe this message? Any hints on how to teach the restoration?
Jenn- I cannot believe how big the guys are! Liam and Carter... And bald! BAAALD!!!Well I am not in my sector right now, because I am killing my comp this week, so we are in Paniahue visiting his converts, so I do not have any more time to write. I am so happy for your love and packages and support. I look forward to obtaining more experience and stories so I can share them with you all for my entire life. I love you all. Chao!-Elder Nicholls
Not a teenager - 23 August 2010
Well, I am officially old.
I can no longer say I am 19 years old, nor a teenager. Not like I have even said the word teenager in the last 8 months... English is such a foreign language to me sometimes. Weird! So you guys got to listen to D. Todd Christofferson yesterday? Cool! Weird too, because Saturday morning our ENTIRE MISSION along with ALL OF SANTIAGO WEST MISSION got together and we listened to Richard G. Scott talk, in Spanish. He talked a lot about the life AFTER the mission. That the first thing we should do after the mission is immediately look for a wife. AND study. Not just study. But find a wife, and that is more important. And I have a feeling that he was referring to that the world isn`t going to be lasting too long. Scary stuff. But it was a really cool talk, and he gave a really nice testimony about God`s love for us as his children.
So you guys talked about the iron rod yesterday? Weird, because I had to give a talk yesterday, and they asked me to prepare it an hour before sacrament meeting started, and I talked about 1 Ne. 8, and the song "The Iron Rod" and talked about what they all mean. I wanted to draw it out, but that kind of thing isn`t appropriate in sacrament meeting. But I went through every point, and described them, and challenged everybody to read the Book Of Mormon 10 minutes a day, regardless of whatever happens. Told them about the falls of iniquity. Told them clearly that is they do not read the Book of Mormon, that their testimonies will fall, and they will fall from the church, and lose the blessings of God. It was well harsh, but full of love. I still play organ, and people are so grateful for that. For my birthday, so far I have gotten 3 things. And I am sure more are coming as we visit people during the week. Our investigating family gave me a keychain with my name on it, and a sister in the branch gave me two sweet ball point pens with a cool grip in a fancy case. And lastly, a sister invited us over to eat lunch: Chicken legs, potatoes, salad, and rice.
So being in a trio isn`t so bad. We actually did divisions almost all week, so we could double the work. And one of my companions talked to one of the assistents to the president about the changes that are coming. He won`t tell me everything he said, but gives me little hints, saying I am going to be the branch president in two weeks, and there are still going to be 4 missionaries in Chepica. I don`t know if I should believe him. But in two weeks from today, we will know for sure! So exciting! I want to train, or do SOMETHING!!
In the big conference, I saw ALL my district from the MTC! We all got together, and took some pictures. Elder Kimball, from the MTC, still hates me basically. I ran up and gave him a hug, and told him I missed him, and I felt bad for the times we had in the MTC, and that I want to be his friend, and forget about the past, and enjoy the work together, and he just said "Ok." Looking away from me, and walked away. Lame. Whatever. I am doing my part to be his friend. But everyone else in my district was so happy. Because 2 of them I hadn`t seen from more than 6 months. Elders Kimball and Miles I hadn`t seen for 6 months. I was so happy to see them.
Mom your package is here! The zone leaders got it, and I will pick it up on Wednesday when we travel to Santa Cruz to have district meeting. I am so excited to get it! This Sunday we only had 2 investigators in church, because the family that went last week was sick, and nobody left the house all day. I hope they keep going. We taught the word of wisdom this week, to test their testimony, and how much they really want to change their life.
Two days during the week, we rode our bikes FOREVER to do permaneced. It`s a program to find less active members, and share the permaneced message, and try and get them back to church. But the members for this week live FAR AWAY. We had to ride our bikes FAST in one direction for half an hour to get there. But, we shared a lot of messages, but nobody came to church. It is horrible here. There are sectors that have 700 members in the sector, and only 40 people that go to church. HORRIBLE!
During comp inventory, the other Elders complimented me on teaching really well, and always showing love to the people here. I honestly had no idea if I teach well or not, but they said that I "surprised them with how well I teach, it being my second language, having only 8 months on the mission." Sweet. They told me that there was a lot they could learn from me. I love the mission! It is just so worth all the efforts!
Well I am running out of time. Dianna I like your story about the dude with the cross in his backyard. Don`t you like the weird traditions of other religions? People`s beliefs and priorities. Well, I have 2 minutes left. I love you all so much, and for your diligence in writing me every week. I got 3 more dear elders this week in the conference, and I am going to read them and take notes to answer some more questions you have asked. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! Chao!
-Elder Nicholls
Dianna Update - 6 September 2010
My week - 1 September 2010
Something exciting happened pretty much everyday this week.
Thursday- My morning started with a knock (actually we have a doorbell so it was a ring) at the door during companion study. It was the Purolator (Canada's UPS) man!!! He had my package with my shoes(and my b-day present)!!! So I spent a few minutes trying them on and then dancing around the apt. in excitement for how WONDERFUL they are! I've already broken in one pair, I'll work on the other ones this coming week. I was surprised to see that there were 2 pairs, thank you, thank you! You're MARVELOUS!
Friday-An investigator fed us a picnic supper at the park. It was...interesting. The member we brought with us ended up getting sick from it. I guess the Lord really is watching over us because we were fine but I knew that we shouldn't have been.
Saturday-There was a Stake Service Project in Windsor. That's about and hour away but the missionaries had permission to go if they could get a ride with a member. So we got to go! Everyone was divided into groups and sent to different parts of the town to do different things that have been pre-arranged. They wanted all of the missionaries to be in the group that was doing the service scavenger hunt but all the Elders disappeared and no one wanted their children to be knocking on and going into strangers homes so it was just 4 Sister missionaries and 2 teenage boys... None of us had a car. They told us to wait at the church while they drop off everyone else and then they'd come back for us. They never came back. Lame. We ended up staying at the church and pulling weeds. It was a good thing too because it needed it REALLY badly! While we were there I got to see a lot of people from my last area and a couple from when I served in Halifax because it's all the same stake. Also, I got to talk to my last district leader, Elder Park (he was one of the ones on that show I was telling you about, I confirmed it, they were on it and it's called All For One, look it up!). It turns out that he has been sick ever since I left and that they aren't allowed to go knocking because of it so they spend their time working with referrals and sleeping. They've actually had a baptism recently!!! I'm surprised that they haven't sent him home. He can't breathe! He can't take in a full breath and he has a horrid cough on top of it, but they said that he can stay and he's grateful for the opportunities that he has. I feel so bad for him. He's such a great missionary!
Sunday- Our branch had a musical fireside. Sis. Ferrell and I have been inviting people to it for weeks now. We had even made flyers to give to EVERYONE! It turned out beautiful! We had 8 musical numbers (one of them was Sis. Ferrell singing His Hands while I accompanied her) and 4 people to bear their testimony. We had so many people show up that we ran out of programs! The Spirit was so strong there as well. We had picked songs that focused around a picture of the Savior clutching onto a "sinner" who is holding a mallet in one hand and a spike in the other. I hope we can do that again some time.
Monday-The beginning of Sisters conference! All 12 Sisters met at the mission home for supper and a training meeting. I got to meet the 2 newest sisters and got to know the other new one that I met briefly. It's fun, we have more Sisters from outside Utah than in. We are from: Utah x 4, Arizona, California x 2, Oklahoma, Idaho, New Mexico, England, and Louisiana. We got to watch the first part of Anne of Green Gables because we were going to go there the next day!
Tuesday- We left for PEI at 6:30 am. We drove all the way to the bridge, across, and then up to Cavendish. We spent about an hour and a half at the Anne stuff and then had a picnic lunch there. Then we headed for Charlottetown for some shopping and Cow's ice cream (heaven on earth in my opinion) and while we were there people kept asking us if we came on the cruise ship. That would have been fun. It was cool to see the cruise ship though, it was HUGE! I still can't get over the fact that they're so big. I don't even think that this was a big one as far as cruise ships go. Then we headed for Montague (where Sis. Ferrell and I served together previously) and the senior couple there had prepared a nice Supper for us. Then we had to rush off to meet the Ferry!!!! That was so much fun!!!! I didn't realize how big that was going to be too. It was crazy windy and of course, we were all wearing skirts... it was funny to see us all with our skirts tucked between our legs. :) Sis. Ferrell and I at one point decided to take a look at the inside. There was a Cow's ice cream there too and for some reason she wanted to go in it, I was hesitant but reluctantly agreed and within 2 seconds of walking in, this couple was talking to us and about how they know so many mormons. They live in Connecticut and named famous mormons they knew. 2 they mentioned were the man who owns Jet Blue and Glenn Beck! Huh! We got to talk to them for about 20 minutes. Sis. Ferrell was inspired even when we were on vacation. It was funny too because we walked out with them back to where all the Sisters and Pres. and Sis. Simpson were and they saw us talking with them! I felt like I was doing extra credit homework or something. No one said anything about it but I could tell by the look of their faces that they hadn't even thought of talking to people and were surprised to see that we were. That made me feel good. :) We then finished the drive back to the mission home, watched the rest of Anne of Green Gables (actually I went to the other room and chatted, so I still need to see it) then went to bed and passed out.
Wednesday!- we had a tasty breakfast and then Sis. Ferrell and I had to take Sis. Johnson and Sis. Brandley (Sis. in Wolfville who we drove with us) to the Doctor because Sis. Johnson has been sick for about a week now. I feel so bad for her. She didn't look or sound good at all and she is one of my favorite sisters! I really hope that she gets better. Oh, and guess what else is new about today? It's 35 degrees!!!! The highest it's ever been is 32!!!!! Even I felt hot when I stepped outside. I sure hope this doesn't last, but I sure hope it doesn't plummit to 15 or something soon!
Well, that's the highlights. I hope you enjoyed it. I wish I had more time and could actually go into more detail and show you the pictures (I took A LOT).
Love you!
Sister Nicholls
My "lucky" penny - 25 August 2010
So, I'll admit it. I was having the LOUSIEST week on the face of the planet, until I found a penny, face up! It was saturday night, we had just had an unsuccessful knocking session and were walking home when I found the penny. I don't know why, but I just got REALLY excited and really happy about everything right then. My week had just turned from night to day, I can't explain it. So, while we were walking we saw only 1 person and Sis. Ferrell was in the middle of telling me a story so I was almost going to let her keep talking and we pass him but I really felt like we should talk to him, so I interrupted her and told her we should stop him. (This whole time I'm playing with my penny). He was really friendly and also not from Kingston, just there for a visit. We talked to him for awhile. We told him about President Monson and he was telling us what the meaning of life was, so we talked about the plan of salvation and gave him a pamphlet and told him to go on the website to contact missionaries at home. In the middle of our conversation a car pulled over and asked us directions to the Yogi Bear campsite (we get this about once a week, I guess we look like we know where we're going). Sis. Ferrell gives him the directions and then he asks us if we're Latter-day Saints. We say yes. Then he asks if the man we're speaking to is LDS and we say no, we just met him. Then this man in the car precedes to tell the man we were talking to that he shouldn't believe anything we tell him, that he should just read the bible because that's where the truth is, and that we don't believe in God, and other such things, and then drives away. Honestly, I was about to cry. That was most likely the biggest form of persecution I've ever encountered personally. I was scared to see what the man we were talking to would say. We were all quiet for a moment and then I asked if he heard what the man was saying. What he said really surprised me. He said, "I heard enough to stop listening." This opened up a great opportunity for us to bear testimony that we each need to come to know the truth for ourselves. He took it as it was, but I think that moment really made him think twice. He had a chance to see us stand up for our believes and he'll probably think about it more now. How lucky was that penny?
What a coincidence, I also spoke this past sunday. I had to speak for 20 minutes! I couldn't believe it, I even made it! My topic was Matthew 6:8 and I shared a bunch of experiences about how God knows us personally and knows what we need before we even ask. I talked about how there will be days when we'll study something out of PMG in the morning and will have the opportunity to teach it to someone throughout the day. Along with other things.
Since I had a bad part of the week, I don't have very many exciting stories to share. I do have great news though! Next week, Monday night to Wednesday morning, is Sisters Conference! We're meeting monday night at the mission home for supper and trainings. Then tuesday morning we're heading to PEI!!!!!! We're going to go to Cavendish and see Anne of Green Gables stuff, then to Charlottetown and THEN we're going to MONTAGUE!!!!! We're going to have Supper with the Ballards, the senior couple that serves there! Sister Ferrell and I are SUPER excited to see them again, and just to see PEI again, in general. We're taking the long way up, across the bridge, and then the short way back, on the ferry! That's going to be exciting. The ferry is only about 20 minutes away from Montague, but since I was there in the winter, it was closed and we had to go around to the bridge. Then we'll head back to the mission home and we'll have breakfast in the morning and say our goodbyes. :D I'm SOO excited! This also means I get to pick up mail from the mission office! I'm going to get my boots!
Oh, someone gave us a bunch of frozen shrimp and scallops. Please email me a good recipe or 2. I don't actually know what to do with them....
Thanks for everything. LOVE YOU!
Sister Nicholls
Something exciting happened pretty much everyday this week.
Thursday- My morning started with a knock (actually we have a doorbell so it was a ring) at the door during companion study. It was the Purolator (Canada's UPS) man!!! He had my package with my shoes(and my b-day present)!!! So I spent a few minutes trying them on and then dancing around the apt. in excitement for how WONDERFUL they are! I've already broken in one pair, I'll work on the other ones this coming week. I was surprised to see that there were 2 pairs, thank you, thank you! You're MARVELOUS!
Friday-An investigator fed us a picnic supper at the park. It was...interesting. The member we brought with us ended up getting sick from it. I guess the Lord really is watching over us because we were fine but I knew that we shouldn't have been.
Saturday-There was a Stake Service Project in Windsor. That's about and hour away but the missionaries had permission to go if they could get a ride with a member. So we got to go! Everyone was divided into groups and sent to different parts of the town to do different things that have been pre-arranged. They wanted all of the missionaries to be in the group that was doing the service scavenger hunt but all the Elders disappeared and no one wanted their children to be knocking on and going into strangers homes so it was just 4 Sister missionaries and 2 teenage boys... None of us had a car. They told us to wait at the church while they drop off everyone else and then they'd come back for us. They never came back. Lame. We ended up staying at the church and pulling weeds. It was a good thing too because it needed it REALLY badly! While we were there I got to see a lot of people from my last area and a couple from when I served in Halifax because it's all the same stake. Also, I got to talk to my last district leader, Elder Park (he was one of the ones on that show I was telling you about, I confirmed it, they were on it and it's called All For One, look it up!). It turns out that he has been sick ever since I left and that they aren't allowed to go knocking because of it so they spend their time working with referrals and sleeping. They've actually had a baptism recently!!! I'm surprised that they haven't sent him home. He can't breathe! He can't take in a full breath and he has a horrid cough on top of it, but they said that he can stay and he's grateful for the opportunities that he has. I feel so bad for him. He's such a great missionary!
Sunday- Our branch had a musical fireside. Sis. Ferrell and I have been inviting people to it for weeks now. We had even made flyers to give to EVERYONE! It turned out beautiful! We had 8 musical numbers (one of them was Sis. Ferrell singing His Hands while I accompanied her) and 4 people to bear their testimony. We had so many people show up that we ran out of programs! The Spirit was so strong there as well. We had picked songs that focused around a picture of the Savior clutching onto a "sinner" who is holding a mallet in one hand and a spike in the other. I hope we can do that again some time.
Monday-The beginning of Sisters conference! All 12 Sisters met at the mission home for supper and a training meeting. I got to meet the 2 newest sisters and got to know the other new one that I met briefly. It's fun, we have more Sisters from outside Utah than in. We are from: Utah x 4, Arizona, California x 2, Oklahoma, Idaho, New Mexico, England, and Louisiana. We got to watch the first part of Anne of Green Gables because we were going to go there the next day!
Tuesday- We left for PEI at 6:30 am. We drove all the way to the bridge, across, and then up to Cavendish. We spent about an hour and a half at the Anne stuff and then had a picnic lunch there. Then we headed for Charlottetown for some shopping and Cow's ice cream (heaven on earth in my opinion) and while we were there people kept asking us if we came on the cruise ship. That would have been fun. It was cool to see the cruise ship though, it was HUGE! I still can't get over the fact that they're so big. I don't even think that this was a big one as far as cruise ships go. Then we headed for Montague (where Sis. Ferrell and I served together previously) and the senior couple there had prepared a nice Supper for us. Then we had to rush off to meet the Ferry!!!! That was so much fun!!!! I didn't realize how big that was going to be too. It was crazy windy and of course, we were all wearing skirts... it was funny to see us all with our skirts tucked between our legs. :) Sis. Ferrell and I at one point decided to take a look at the inside. There was a Cow's ice cream there too and for some reason she wanted to go in it, I was hesitant but reluctantly agreed and within 2 seconds of walking in, this couple was talking to us and about how they know so many mormons. They live in Connecticut and named famous mormons they knew. 2 they mentioned were the man who owns Jet Blue and Glenn Beck! Huh! We got to talk to them for about 20 minutes. Sis. Ferrell was inspired even when we were on vacation. It was funny too because we walked out with them back to where all the Sisters and Pres. and Sis. Simpson were and they saw us talking with them! I felt like I was doing extra credit homework or something. No one said anything about it but I could tell by the look of their faces that they hadn't even thought of talking to people and were surprised to see that we were. That made me feel good. :) We then finished the drive back to the mission home, watched the rest of Anne of Green Gables (actually I went to the other room and chatted, so I still need to see it) then went to bed and passed out.
Wednesday!- we had a tasty breakfast and then Sis. Ferrell and I had to take Sis. Johnson and Sis. Brandley (Sis. in Wolfville who we drove with us) to the Doctor because Sis. Johnson has been sick for about a week now. I feel so bad for her. She didn't look or sound good at all and she is one of my favorite sisters! I really hope that she gets better. Oh, and guess what else is new about today? It's 35 degrees!!!! The highest it's ever been is 32!!!!! Even I felt hot when I stepped outside. I sure hope this doesn't last, but I sure hope it doesn't plummit to 15 or something soon!
Well, that's the highlights. I hope you enjoyed it. I wish I had more time and could actually go into more detail and show you the pictures (I took A LOT).
Love you!
Sister Nicholls
My "lucky" penny - 25 August 2010
So, I'll admit it. I was having the LOUSIEST week on the face of the planet, until I found a penny, face up! It was saturday night, we had just had an unsuccessful knocking session and were walking home when I found the penny. I don't know why, but I just got REALLY excited and really happy about everything right then. My week had just turned from night to day, I can't explain it. So, while we were walking we saw only 1 person and Sis. Ferrell was in the middle of telling me a story so I was almost going to let her keep talking and we pass him but I really felt like we should talk to him, so I interrupted her and told her we should stop him. (This whole time I'm playing with my penny). He was really friendly and also not from Kingston, just there for a visit. We talked to him for awhile. We told him about President Monson and he was telling us what the meaning of life was, so we talked about the plan of salvation and gave him a pamphlet and told him to go on the website to contact missionaries at home. In the middle of our conversation a car pulled over and asked us directions to the Yogi Bear campsite (we get this about once a week, I guess we look like we know where we're going). Sis. Ferrell gives him the directions and then he asks us if we're Latter-day Saints. We say yes. Then he asks if the man we're speaking to is LDS and we say no, we just met him. Then this man in the car precedes to tell the man we were talking to that he shouldn't believe anything we tell him, that he should just read the bible because that's where the truth is, and that we don't believe in God, and other such things, and then drives away. Honestly, I was about to cry. That was most likely the biggest form of persecution I've ever encountered personally. I was scared to see what the man we were talking to would say. We were all quiet for a moment and then I asked if he heard what the man was saying. What he said really surprised me. He said, "I heard enough to stop listening." This opened up a great opportunity for us to bear testimony that we each need to come to know the truth for ourselves. He took it as it was, but I think that moment really made him think twice. He had a chance to see us stand up for our believes and he'll probably think about it more now. How lucky was that penny?
What a coincidence, I also spoke this past sunday. I had to speak for 20 minutes! I couldn't believe it, I even made it! My topic was Matthew 6:8 and I shared a bunch of experiences about how God knows us personally and knows what we need before we even ask. I talked about how there will be days when we'll study something out of PMG in the morning and will have the opportunity to teach it to someone throughout the day. Along with other things.
Since I had a bad part of the week, I don't have very many exciting stories to share. I do have great news though! Next week, Monday night to Wednesday morning, is Sisters Conference! We're meeting monday night at the mission home for supper and trainings. Then tuesday morning we're heading to PEI!!!!!! We're going to go to Cavendish and see Anne of Green Gables stuff, then to Charlottetown and THEN we're going to MONTAGUE!!!!! We're going to have Supper with the Ballards, the senior couple that serves there! Sister Ferrell and I are SUPER excited to see them again, and just to see PEI again, in general. We're taking the long way up, across the bridge, and then the short way back, on the ferry! That's going to be exciting. The ferry is only about 20 minutes away from Montague, but since I was there in the winter, it was closed and we had to go around to the bridge. Then we'll head back to the mission home and we'll have breakfast in the morning and say our goodbyes. :D I'm SOO excited! This also means I get to pick up mail from the mission office! I'm going to get my boots!
Oh, someone gave us a bunch of frozen shrimp and scallops. Please email me a good recipe or 2. I don't actually know what to do with them....
Thanks for everything. LOVE YOU!
Sister Nicholls
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)