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