Dearest Family,
I GOT BIT BY A DOG!!!!!! I know the correct grammar is "bitten" but it sounds way more dramatic when you write BIT! Here's the story. We were walking to a house and went past this house that has what looks like a cage type fence around it and this CRAZY DOG ran up to the fence at 90mph and looked like he was going to jump the fence and eat me. He was so fierce! I stopped in my tracks but he didn't jump over the fence, just barked from a distance. Then the next day we contacted a referral and IT WAS THE CRAZY DOG HOUSE!!!! We went up to the gate, and crazy dog was nowhere to be seen. All that was there was the cutest puppy in the world - now we know that the puppy is just a seductive luring trap! We gingerly opened the gate and went into the property, calling out for crazy dog but he was nowhere to be seen. If he was out there, he'd have come by now. We walked the path and reached the door, pressed the ringer and hear the loudest bark. It was echoing, so we knew it was inside. Suddenly, my heart leapt into my mouth because the echoing stopped and I knew the dog was in the back garden, making its way to the front. The vicious snarling got closer and I surveyed the scene, knowing that there was NO WAY I'd make it to the gate in time. I felt SICK. We were literally trapped in a cage with this beast. He jumped over the hill with the crazed intensity in his eyes, as Sister D RAN! She was closer to the gate than I was, and I knew if I ran he'd have me from behind. So I stayed calm, and spoke nicely and walked very slowly. The dog was RUNNING towards me and it was SO SCARY MUM!! I walked slowly to the gate as the dog grabbed my leg from behind and sunk his fangs into the flesh above my ankle on my left leg. I screamed out in pain but no one came to the rescue, so I kicked out my leg and slapped it with my hand. It was the loudest and highest pitch scream ever haha. Sister D was impressed. When the crazed beast pulled his gnashers from my leg I pulled the gate open and recovered as he snarled at me from the other side. It didn't bleed for some reason, but my finger did. There's just two big purple lumps at the bottom of my leg, it hurt so much and walking has really hurt this week but onward ever onward! I tried not to complain about it at all and have soldiered on as missionaries do. It was a journal experience for sure. CRAZY DOG!
Last Monday night we were out tracting and always the only doors we knock on are always the ones who turn out to need us! We don't just knock on every door because most are members, but we come to a house and check how each other is feeling. Both of us know when we need to knock at that house, so we knock and it's always someone who turns out to need us! It's amazing and never gets old. So it was about 7:30/8pm and was really dark and I just got a really bad feeling. We wanted to go up one more street but there was something stopping me from walking, I physically couldn't take a step in that direction. There was this creepy looking car up there with just the headlights on and a man sitting there. So anwyay we turned around and these creepy noises started and we walked faster and faster and then Sis D said she felt like we had to GET OUTTA THERE and it was so scary! I don't know what it was, but the Spirit was just telling us to RUN! So we walked faster and then called the Bishop who lives up the road and he JUMPED in his car and was there minutes later. We jumped in and he drove us home and watched us walk in the door. We don't know what would've happened if we didn't follow that prompting. Sis D felt like someone was following us. But I don't tell you that story to scare you, I tell you it to show you how much we are looked after by the members here. In the car the Bishop said to us to NEVER hesitate to call him no matter the time of day or night if we need him. He reminded me of you Dad! Oh my gosh the loveliest member in the world took us to Walmart on p-day and she BOUGHT ALL OUR SHOPPING!!! We needed lots of stuff for our apartment like a CHAIR haha the Elders just used one so we'd take it in turns to sit during meals haha. And a mirror, and a hair dryer, and hand towels and washing up liquid and soap! So we had to buy a lot of stuff and she bought it all for us, and lunch! It came to like $250 all in all and she got everything. I felt so bad but she was so nice! I have her details if you want to call her and thank her.
We taught a woman and her non-member husband yesterday. During dinner I just compeltely forgot the WHOLE FHE lesson we'd planned and I was like, OH NO what are we going to do?!?!?!!??! It just vanished from my head! Then a voice in my mind said you need to talk about Joseph Smith. And I was like but WHAT about Joseph Smith!??! I'm sure his wife has told him about Joseph Smith many many times! Then so clear and distinct it said to talk about the way his family were prepared for the things he would accomplish. So I just prayed that Sis D would accept that our FHE plans had changed and as it turned out, she'd completely forgotten what we'd planned too! SO I know it was the Spirit. And it turned out sooooo spiriptual! As the woman dropped us off she thanked us for the FHE saying that just days before her husband had read her missionary journals and said that she had accomplished a lot in her life! So it was great! The Spirit was so strong.
We were tracting in the dark the other day and there was like one house with lights on, so we were approaching that house and suddenly all the lights went off and a man was peeping through the blinds at us hahahha! We got the message, but I so wanted to just wave at him to let him know we could easily see him watching us! Perfect missionary moment. I love teaching the Restoration on the door step! The Spirit is so strong every single time. We have only found like two people who have never heard of Joseph Smith before and both have Book of Mormon's of their own now and are reading them. I'm excited for them. One other awkward moment was when we went to this door and we thought people were in but then there was this really sensuous Adele song being played REALLY LOUDLY, so loudly that they couldn't hear us knocking if we tried. We knew something not missionary appropriate was going on behind that door so we just laughed so hard and left. We laugh a LOT together. It makes every day fun! There's this dog that we are trying to get a pic of that lives next door to us who is a little chihuahua looking dog with LONG hair that has been shaved all except for a tuft on its tail and around its neck and IT LOOKS LIKE A MINIATURE LION!!! We call him lion dog, he is so funny!
We were walking down the road one time and the Spirit told us to talk to this young man on his drive by his car. We looked at each other and nodded and started talking to him. We could tell he was higher than life haha, and they always are around that certain house. We think a drug dealer lives there because all of them say they're there to get their van's done or their van's brakes fixed etc always car excuses but we know they're all high! So anyway we were talking to him and it turns out he's a 21 year old member who is less active and turned to drugs because of family problems. I can't tell you the love I felt for him, I just bore testimony to him of the love Christ has for Him and how He is just waiting for him to come back, and how there is something special he needs to fulfill but needs to reach his potential to get there. He started crying and felt the Spirit really strong and said he's been trying to get off drugs and come back but it's hard cos all his friends are druggies but that he would like to serve a mission but needs to get off drugs etc. It was soooooo touching and amazing to stand there crying with him. We have all his details (he lives out of our area so we referred him on to the other Sisters) and will follow up with him. I love experiences like that.
Our weekly planning takes about 3 hours on a Friday morning, and we ordered a pizza because it makes it more fun! I felt like the YM at Mutual haha. We had Zone Meeting in the morning and it was all about not racing our investigators through the sacred grove, but taking them by the hand and guiding and walking them through it. It was so spiritual! I love my Sister Training Leader's and Zone Leaders. President and Sister Center were there too! I wouldn't want to teach with them listening haha! We taught Mutual the other night, just got a call asking us to come so we hadn't prepared anything but it turned out good. It was just the young men, and the young woman who prayed in opening exercises said "Please bless that the young men will enjoy the Sister Missionaries" hahahaha! It cracked us up. We talked at Stake Conference, the Saturday Evening adult session, it went well. I was so nervous because lots of people were there, but the Spirit led it and it went really well! President Lewis the counsellor on the Presidency who we just LOVE because he loves us, came up to us at the end and sincerely complimented and thanked us. I love him! He's invited us over for thanksgiving dinner so we're excited! You'd like him and his family, they're so wonderful. He just emulates Christ at all times. We had this delicious dessert that you would've loved that was like Tres Leches cake but a pumpkin version, it was SO GOOD! The members feed us so well! Every day we have appointments, sometimes too many in one day and too much food haha. We were walking on the street and a car pulled over and I was ready to punch someone in the face for trying to kidnap us but it was this sweet old woman who wanted to give us $20!!!! We used it to pay for pizza for our planning! They get offended if you don't take it.
We've spent a lot of time cleaning our apartment from the Elders who last lived in it. It was gross but it's getting better. I bought the grossest blanket in the world from Walmart, it's got a wolf howling at the moon on it, I LOVE IT haha. It's so thick and warm. I got two new blankets. I boughrt your Christmas presents from Deseret Book yesterday. I hope you don't have them already! I napped yesterday too, it was so good. We accidentally slept in the other day because we forgot to put the alarm on, but I woke up at 7am and woke Sis D up. That's the second time that's happened cos it happened once at the MTC. I think that must be my natural time to wake up because both times I've woken up at 7 and feel so refreshed and wonderful. I feel awful at 6:30am and it's exhausting struggling every day to get out of bed and take myself into the cold dark outside to run. The stars are super bright though cos there's no street lights out here. I'm always in bed at around 10pm because I don't take long to get ready for bed and I'm asleep STRAIGHT AWAY. It cracks Sis D up because I'm asleep SO soon. She takes longer than me to get ready for bed so the light is always on and she's not in bed but I'm just out of it in seconds of getting into bed. She has insomnia so she lays there for ages and is awake in the night and she just listens to me enjoying sleep haha. It's been so hot these last few days in the day time, I have tan lines on my feet and on my watch and my hair is really blonde. It's cold today - I had to put a cardigan on ;)
I've just fallen in love with the Psalm of Nephi! I read it at the perfect time that I needed it and it was just beautiful. I want to read it every day haha. My testimony of prayer has grown so much in the last 5 weeks since we said goodbye. I rely on it so much and when I feel like I can't put another dog bitten foot in front of the other I get down on my knees and plead and have this renewed sense of encouragement and LOVE MISSIONARY WORK! I honestly love being a missionary. I can't remember not being one.
Okay I think that this is all of my news for this week! I can't think of anything else to put! I love you all so much and think about you first thing in the morning and last thing at night! I hope you do too :) I got Luke's package from BYU bookstore but it was couriered so I had to go up to St George to get it. Thanks for sending it though because I've lived in the clothes when I work out, it's perfect thank you! And the shampoo and cleanser etc was perfect so thank you!
I love you all!!!
Sister Nicholls
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