Dear Family and Friends,
We have had an INCREDIBLE week! Let me start with last P-Day!
Sister Garcia and I decided to go into "downtown" St George haha, I say "downtown" because it's like two streets and hardly merits being called downtown! But anyway it's full of cute little shops with cute little antiques and little cafes. So we walked around and looked in some shops, and we found a Book of Mormon from the 1800s that was a few hundred dollars! We wanted it! Preaching the gospel with that would be way more powerful right? We ate in the Pizza Factory together, and found a statue of Brigham Young which we made lots of use of :) haha! It was just a really nice relaxed p-day going round the cute little shops.
On Wednesday we worked SOOOOOOOOOOO hard in the VC and in our area. We had 5 hours in our area after our shift at the VC and we taught 7 lessons and put 4 people on date for baptism in May and found 1 new investigator. It was filled with miracles! We followed the Spirit to know what to say to the people to help them accept a baptismal date! It was just so wonderful seeing the Spirit working in their hearts. We were exhausted after that! At the VC a Russian bus came and I took the tour with them and the tour guide translated what I would say into Russian. We have no idea if they translate it right but he was nice so I trust him! The Russians all came up to me afterwards with questions and they took 25 Book of Mormons in Russian! They were asking GREAT questions and I just love being here able to plant those seeds so that my friends in Russia serving their missions might find them and nourish the seed.
On Thursday we had our District Training Meeting as usual and it was great! We had Sisters Training Meeting beforehand and it went great too!!! The Spirit was so strong at both that many of us shed tears. I said the closing prayer at DTM and we were all kneeling together in a circle and I focused on what I would say to Heavenly Father on behalf of our district right there and then if He was with us. It was a really powerful spiritual experience and tears were shed by more than just one of us. When we stood up after the prayer no one said anything for a few minutes. When you feel the Spirit like that you just don't want to break it for anything! After DTM we had one hour to work between that and starting our VC shift so we went and taught THREE LESSONS in one hour! We worked so hard! M is having a hard time in life and isn’t reading the scriptures so every day we go to her house and read one verse from the Book of Mormon with her. Who knows if it helps because she doesn’t say anything but we are trying our best. The Elders met with us to talk about our area and how it's going and what they can do to help. They were so happy with how it's all going. The Lord is pouring out His work and we are so grateful to be His servants.
We had a French bus come the other day and I was standing in the back to help them out with time keeping and handing out Le Livre De Mormon and I was about to leave to go to the front when I felt like I should stop and stay there. So I stopped walking away and stood awkwardly at the back surrounded by French people. I stood there and then this French woman was walking past but stopped and looked at me and looked like she had something to say so I opened my mouth and spoke some French words to her and she spoke back in French and I knew what she was saying. She told me that she was feeling very calm and very peaceful in this building and wanted to know why! I asked her if she believed in God and she said that she does, and I told her it was the Holy Spirit telling her that what we are telling her is true. She was clutching a Book of Mormon and I told her if she reads that every day that no matter the problems her family are facing that she will feel this same feeling every day. This never happens with French buses! EVER! So I tried, and I asked her if she would mind giving me her contact details and I will contact her and teach her some more. She said that she would and I said that I would give it to a French Sister who could speak in French to her and she said "No! You!! No!!" so I was like......okkkaayyyy then we will try to do this in English and French! So that was a HUGE miracle! Usually the buses just come and go but the Spirit directed me to be in the right place at the right time to connect with that one French woman! I also took an Italian bus tour the other day which was fun! They were all Catholic but took Book of Mormons!
On Friday we had 5 hours in our area again after our VC shift! We were determined to reach the Standards of Exellence again so we determined that we had to find one more investigator and teach 8 more lessons. We prayed SO hard and we initiated the help of all our Ward Mission Leaders, telling them that they need to give us names of people to visit who might want to learn more or members who might know people. Bro Christiansen gave us the name of a member family who know non members, so we visited them and we went to the referrals house and there were two older ladies outside on the drive. We talked for a while and I asked if they were members and they said they are! I asked if everyone in the household were members and they said they are not! So we asked if they would be interested in learning more and she said “My granddaughter has actually said she would like to be baptized!". We were like "Well!! We can help with that!" and she went inside and got her! We taught her right then on the driveway, and got a return appointment! We had reached our goal!!!! We walked away from that driveway ecstatic and prayed on the street to say thank you to Heavenly Father. I remember before my mission I was always nervous to pray on the street for anything but now we do it like 67 times a day. Also, S (the granddaughter) is SOOOO elect. She has a strong testimony of Christ and she shares it powerfully with us. We learn so much from her! We went the next day to her house to teach her and they were having a yard sale and we were sat at a table and chairs that were for sale. There were so many people all around us and we were using our pamphlet to teach the Restoration. There was a mirror behind S so we could see ourselves teaching and holding the Pamphlet and S's countenance change as she understood. It really was a beautiful sight to see the message of the restoration being taught. It's those moments that you don’t even have words to describe how it feels. I just LOVE being a missionary so much! Then we were driving down the street and saw a potential investigator L walking. We pulled over immediately and jumped out and taught her right there and got a return appointment so we EXCEEDED our goal! We were SOOOOO thrilled! We were SOOOO blessed!
We have been exercising really well this week! We get up at 6 and run to the Dixie Stadium and run round the track there and run up and down the bleachers until we can’t walk anymore then have to run home. It’s like 12 blocks to go there and back, then plus the exercise we do there it's KILLER!!! We go in a big group of Sisters so it's really nice. We got there one day and there was a big group of Elders playing football on the field. It was so awkward. None of us spoke to each other and we just pretended it never happened haha. But it is so nice to work out. It's so hot and light at 6am! We sweat and sweat. Its just going to get worse!
Mother’s Day was SO GREAT! Seeing you was incredible. I cried a lot but it was okay. It was hard for the rest of the day. I think that’s why we only Skype like three times our whole mission! Haha! But for the evening we went to the Davis's house and they made Shepherds pie and Victoria Sponge cake!
It was so nice to be with a nice family on Mother's Day. We visited some of the women we love, the Bishop's wife and the RS President etc. While we drove to the RS President's house there was a beautiful view so we stopped and looked at it. We wanted to take a pic and there were these two Asian 20 year old, or so, looking young men. We wanted to share the Gospel with them so we got out of our car and made awkward moves towards them even though we had the WHOLE hill to take pictures on hahaha. We approached them as only misionaries can and it turns out they are from China and are only in St George for one night. We gave them Book of Mormons and my personal mormon.org card and taught them what it meant etc. They appreciated it and said that they would read it and gave us their email addresses so we could stay in touch via the teaching centre at the VC! It was great to see how the Lord placed us in each other's paths! I just LOVE being a missionary! Also one of them was called Wong, WHAATTT!!! I was so happy! For Church we went to the Ward opposite the VC for Sacrament Meeting while we were on shift and we saw a car just like B’s who is the man who hit us with his car! We asked the Bishop if they have someone called B… H... in their ward and he pointed us in the direction of him and told us his wife is in hospital right now. He is so old and frail and can barely walk. We approached him and shook his hand and wished his wife better. He didn’t know who we were at all but it was so nice to just meet him and speak with him regardless!
Well I have to get running! But we made Standards of Excellence and we are working HARD! We have interviews with President Center this week too! We are doing the training at the District Training Meeting, the Sisters Training Meeting, and are teaching a Seminary class this week! So it's crazy! Pray for us please! We need it!
I love you all SO MUCH!
Sister Nicholls
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