Dear Family and Friends,
It feels like I just emailed you yesterday!! I couldn't think of anything to write because it's only been a day and then I remember that it's been 6 days and I could write essays about everything that has happened in the last 6 days!
First I should tell you about Jayden and Payten. They are the two little girls who we're teaching that are getting baptized on Nov 30th. They are just perfect! They're so sweet and they drew us a picture of us holding their hands and walking into the sunset haha and our nametags definitely say "Elder Nicholls and Elder Donaldson" hahahaha! Because the Elders found them and taught them twice and now they're OURS! Haha we love them so much though and they love us! The relationships you form here on your mission are priceless. They are 11 and 9. So we're teaching the girls and we all just love each other. We're like family cos we see them a few times a week. The girls are just so into the gospel and soak up everything and it reminds me of how we need to be like children. With Jayden I can just see the potential that Heavenly Father sees within her. She said she wants to go on a mission and I can just see her doing great things in her life. Payten's a bit younger so it's harder to see but she's still AWESOME! I will definitely be in contact with them after my mission!
My companion and I were walking the streets of Washington to get to our dinner appointment in time and there was a man walking towads us on the other side of the street. The Spirit said strongly to both of us "talk to him!" so we looked at each and gave the nod and crossed the road to be in his path as only missionaries are so skillled at doing haha. We approached him and talked with him. He was all muscly and tattooed with a funky beard that was shaved in like stripes haha and had jewellery and a bandana I think, and yet us two 19 year old girls approached him and shared a message about Christ with him. He got all serious and was like "I'm a member of the church but have done some bad stuff but recently have felt like I need to come back" and it turns out he'd been divorced and gotten into bad stuff and felt too bad to go back, especially to a family ward where everyone is with someone. So we got his details and found the local mid-singles ward and passed them on to him! It was cool how we just weren't scared of him. He thanked us at the end and said how it touched him because most people cross the road to get away from him but he saw that we crossed the road to SPEAK to him! It broke my heart to hear that.
We've met lots of good people this week and we're really hopeful for a high number of baptisms in December! We were planning for our week and saw that we are teaching about 13 investigators. We have set a goal for 10 baptisms in December - it's a crazy big goal but we are fasting and praying for miracles. I need your prayers and your fasts if possible. It's a miracle we need. If we don't get 10 then whatever we get will be more than they've had in a long time! We taught a woman who just married a member. They are 21 and she saw General Conference and is interested in learning more about the church. So we went by their house with a member couple last night and had a really spiritual lesson about Heavenly Father and faith and prayer. The Spirit was just so strong! She looked pretty teary at parts but seemed kinda wary too, I think its because her family all grew up here but weren't members so taught her to watch out for the Mormons and now she's actually investigating it's hard to give that up. But we're hoping for some good things in December with her! We're gonna take her through the Visitors' Centre and give her the 'God has a plan for his family tour'! We also tracted into this family, the woman answered the door and said some boy missionaries had come by a few weeks/months ago and given her some "reading material" and she has a lot of questions and is interested in learning about the Mormons. Her husband is in the Marines and is a Recruiter so they're stationed here for a while. I believe that Heavenly Father has sent them here for a reason. They're a good Catholic family from LA but disagree with a lot of the Catholic teachings. She asked us a lot of questions about womanhood and if God likes women and whether it's okay to ask questions and how we are forgiven of our sins because she disagrees wtih telling the priests all your sins as it should be between you and God and she believes that God loves women too and hates how the Priests dont listen to her and tell her to stop asking questions! hahah! We found a perfect fellowshipper for her, she is from Lanzarote (I told her we went to Puerto del Carmen and she knows it!) and used to be Catholic and is the same bubbly personality as this woman so we're excited for this family! Keep praying for miracles please!
We tracted this woman who is a Christian of some denomination and we talked with her for a while and when we brought up those threatening words "The Book Of Mormon" she actually BLESSED HERSELF hahaha! It just cracked me up that she felt she had to cross herself because of those very words haha. Needless to say she didn't invite us back again. We were walking from church house to church house yesterday for our meetings (something you can't do in England because it would be hours of walking) and this car pulls up beside us with this Hispanic gangsta with tattoos and jewellery leaning out the window and he goes "hey girls you want a ride to church?" and I didn't even have to take a second to listen to the Spirit's advice because I just said "no we're fine thanks" haha it was one of those instances where Heavenly Father is like you can make this decision all by yourself I think you're clever enough. Haha so we said no thank you and he said "you look beautiful today" and so I did what any self respecting Sister missionary can do and turned away and shouted back "thanks!" haha. If you want to get rid of a missionary just tell her she's beautiful haha. So I walked away and said thanks so I wasnt rude but AINT NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT. We got soulz to save.! I'm pretty sure he didn't want to take us to church haha.
We went to a less active members' home to ask if we can do a FHE for them. We've met the wife twice and the husband once, it was her birthday so we took her the dvd about the temple. Anyway we just felt like seeing them that evening and as we talked on the doorstep about gospel stuff she said how she feels like she's known us forever! It was amazing because that's what we were actually talking about on the doorstep, those kindred spirits that you feel you've always known, then she said yeah after last time you came I said to my son that I just feel like I've seen you somewhere before. It was so cool and she was so touched. We have a LOT of lessons booked. Hardly any time for door knocking, I actually like door knocking though! Meet a lot of cool people. There are so many little experiences I could share with you from door knocking, where I'll say something and the woman was like "my mum who passed away last year would always say that to me.." !!! and one painfully awkward one where it was silent for like a solid 8 seconds hahaha. And one where we were lost and prayed that we'd find someone we need to find and this family pull up in the house we were standing in front of trying to see our map in the dark and after talking to them for ages it turns out they're a less active family who we had a referrral to visit with! So many little miracles!
We spoke in Sacrament Meeting yesterday about who is my neighbour? It went well I think. We are speaking in the 3rd ward next week. Speaking every week! Making our rounds and we can't even give the same talk every time cos they give us different topics haha! It's all good experience. We have four invites for Thanksgiving thus far!
Keep praying for me, I need all the help I can get haha!
I love you so much!
I pray for you all the time!
Sister Nicholls
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