"Does Josh Groban raise you up so you can walk on mountains?” - 29-7-14

The above quote is from one of the Sisters in the VC! It cracked me up SO MUCH all week that I HAD to share it with everyone. We were in our daily shift shuffle meeting before the shift begins, assigning who will cover where in the VC, and we were trying to decide if You Raise Me Up is about God or about a person, and one Sister said “It's about God, no boy could raise me up to walk on mountains." and her companion, who knows her very well, said, "Does Josh Groban raise you up so you can walk on mountains?" and we all just started laughing til we cried until she explained that she has the biggest crush on Josh Groban! Now you know. Now on to spiritual things ;) 

We worked SO HARD this week! We decided to leave behind the disasters of last week and begin again. And the Lord did provide according to our faith! We found 2 new investigators so we were able to reach Standards of Excellence again!! We are exhaussstteedddd! We had to work so hard! But lots of fun stories from this week! 

Let me tell you about the lemonade stand! We enlisted the help of Sister Pack the Relief Society President of the Knolls ward, and we went to work making ridiculously small signs directing people to the park and sticking them on all the stop signs #onlylikefivepercentillegal and then prayed and prayed and prayed that it would be a worthwhile use of our time. Like I said last week, no one answers the doors if we knock, so we wanted to find new investigators this way! It was GREAT! We'd been there like 5 minutes and a retired couple walked their dogs right past us so they came and got a drink and we talked about the Church. We gave them our number and we know where they live now. They didn't set up an appointment but it was a great first contact! Then this car drove past and we waved so hard that they TURNED AROUND and came back! They rolled down the window and it was a Brazilian non member lady who said “I dont want lemonade, but are you collecting for something?" so we said no it's free and introduced ourselves and she was nice and said that we could drop by her house and told us where it is! Turns out we've knocked there a few times before but she was out of town! Apart from that we met some less actives and it was a great use of time. Sister Pack was incredible and helped SO MUCH. She's a saint! I was thinking about how like 9 months ago I'd be terrified to approach random people in a park and tell them about the Church but now I'm so comfortable doing it I can't imagine not doing it every day. I'd feel like my conversations were worth nothing if I didn’t bring up Jesus Christ at some point haha! I just love how focused on Him we are as missionaries. There's nothing else I'd rather focus on, and this time is so short to just cut out the whole world and live for Him each day. I love waking up with such purpose. 

So we found this family who just moved from the Stake next door, Boulder Ridge. They are less active with unbaptized children. They are really nice and they told us “It's time for our family to change. We are ready to come back to Church. What do we need to do to get M baptized?" hahaha missionaries LOVE that question.So I guess the time is right for them! It was a great lesson with them, I felt the Spirit so strongly prompting me to tell them how proud Heavenly Father is of them and how they are making the right changes in their lives. I told them and the wife got tears in her eyes, it was a great moment. I love being a missionary! 

The second new investiagtor we found was after our lemonade stand. Sister Pack was driving us back and we drove past her neighbour who was laying on the ground doing something in her garden, in the dark, at 9:20pm! Sister Pack said “She’s not a member!" so we jumped out and helped her and she was really grateful. We talked for a while, (we might’ve been late home...but it’s all for a good cause right!) and we will be seeing her tomorrow!! She said she’s been to Church a few times and is good friends with the Bishop and has been to the VC and said she'd like to read the Book of Mormon with us! She is so cute!! I'm excited. 

A is doing so well!!!!! She is every missionary's golden investigator. She said she is willing to give up her marriage to get baptized because this is what she's  been searching for her whole life. We taught her tithing and she said that she’s not got a job right now but can she donate her time or her skills or something? Haha isn’t she perfect?!?! I just feel a strong connection with her and every day I look foward to seeing her! We had a really intense lesson with her on Sunday where we put her on date for baptism and she had to choose whether to go ahead and do it without her husband or wait for him. We can’t tell her the answer because we don’t want her to ruin her marriage, but she made her decision to be baptized THIS SATURDAY whether her husband likes it or not. I am deeply touched by her example of sacrifice and consecration. To her it's black and white, there’s a right and a wrong. When asked to keep the commandments she just does it without question or hesitation or thought. She comes to each lesson armed with an example of something she learned from the scriptures or a prayer that was answered or how she avoided drinking coffee. She is very spiritual and I can’t wait to be best friends with her throughout life and eternity! 

We had a GREAT opportunity to be in the parade in Washington on Pioneer Day. It was one of the best days of my mission! We met up at 6:45am with Sisters Allen and Hokanson just because we're bffs and wanted to ride together. Then we met the other two sets of the Sisters and the 10 companionships of Elders in WASHINGTON where I first served on my mission! I loved being back there and seeing so many familiar faces. Walking those roads brought back so many memories. Anyway we had a great breakfast of pancakes and eggs and bacon for free, and got so much free food throughout the day! Everyone thrust money into our hands so we got pizza and slushies and smoothies and popsicles haha!! And we got to talk about the Church ALLLLL day to people in the HEATTTT! I’ve never been so hot in my life! I was drenched! and so was everyone. We got to walk in the parade and it was so surreal. All we did was walk, but people were cheering and cheering and shouting how much they love missionaries. I thought if Luke walked in a parade in Greece he'd have had Gyro's thrown at his face but we got applauded! Every few minutes someone in the parade would be someone I knew from Washington so I got to run in to the crowd and hug sweaty people over and over again! I loved seeing old faces. Sad news though, the next day a woman I knew well in the 11th ward got hit by a car when jogging and has left behind three teenage children and a husband. It's devastating and the whole Stake is in mourning! I got to see the Sears, the Koevens and many others that I love. I wanted to see the Lewis's but they were out of town but they came in the VC yesterday so we had a great reunion! I love them all so much!!! It was incredible to walk in the parade and see everyone! Washington has a great history!

Great experiences at the VC this week! I gave a tour to this Christian couple and was so tired because it was after the parade (I was scheduled on shift straight afterwards so I didn’t have time to shower - hahaha gross - that's when perfume comes in to it!). But the Spirit was definitely there because usually I don’t know what to do with people on tours but with them it just flowed and I said things that just came out then thought “Woah, where did that come from?" and she ASKED for a Book of Mormon and gladly gave me her details and told me when to call her. I'll let you know how it goes! They were so nice and I love it when you just meet people and know that Heavenly Father sent them just for you. Happens so often in the VC. I was at the Christus talking to this 17 yr old girl whose family is all excommunicated or less active but she comes in every day for strength. She is GREAT! We just had a great deep chat and while we were talking this man I recognised came in and sat by the wall and took a pic of us talking. I would’ve thought it was weird but I'm used to all the French tourists doing the same thing ;) haha then I realized it was Thies!!!!! It was so cool to see him again! He taught me some Dutch phrases to use with the Dutch people! It was great to see a familiar face! He reminded me so much of you Dad that I nearly hugged him and hugged him hahaha! But I didn’t. I introduced him to all the Sisters as my Dad's mission companion and they oo'd and aahh'd haha. 

This man came in the VC who served his mission in that place where the School of Prophets is. He said that during District Training Meeting in the School of the Prophets house, a man told a story of how the Saviour instructed the people there one time. The Elder walked out the door and walked back in to say he walked where the Saviour walked. As he walked in he said he felt something stronger than ever before. Fast forwarding to last year he lives here now and he cleaned the VC one evening and said as he was cleaning he felt that same strong feeling and knew that the Saviour had walked where he was cleaning. As he was telling me that his eyes filled with tears and he could hardly talk. I thanked him so sincerely for sharing that with me. I want you to know that the Saviour walks His homes and I am priviledged to serve in a sacred place every day. I strive my best not to do anything to make the Spirit have to leave this home, the Visitors’ Centre. 

S hasn’t smoked all week!!!!!! It’s the longest he's ever gone! We're seeing him every day so he should be baptized on Saturday!!! We should have 2 baptisms. Pray for us! We’re working hard! 

LOVE YOU ALLLLL SOOO MUCH

Sister Nicholls

"God our strength will be, press forward, ever called to serve our King" - 22-7-14

Dear Loved Ones, 

This is definitely a refining experience! This week started out sooooooooo fun!! On Wednesday instead of our shift at the Visitors' Center we went to the Brigham Young Winter Home. I was incredibly rusty because it was March since I did a tour there. It's really hard to remember the wood everything is made of, and the names of the architects, and what the little holes in the ceiling mean after that many months. Thankfully the first tour I gave only wanted to know about EVERY LITTLE obscure detail haha! I just said everything really confidently so they would think I knew what I was talking about!! Then in between tours I just devoured the book about the place so I could learn little stories about Brigham. It was so fun, I love being there. It was SO hot though! We had some polygamist visitor's there for a tour, they love it at Brigham's! So it was such a nice change to do something different than being at the VC every day :) Also I came around the corner with a tour group and saw Megan Torgenson sitting there, and she brought treats for us!!!! It was SO good to see her and to talk for a few minutes. She is great! 

We did have a cool miracle at the VC this week. A Slovenian bus came and wanted a tour, and they were all so nice! I was just standing by the front desk and greeted a man named S. He started to explain to me in broken English that he felt good here. He said there was a "good energy" in this building. I explained to him about the Holy Ghost and asked if he believed in God. He said that he is Catholic. I told him that he could have a book in his own language that would give him the same good feeling if he reads it, especially in his home with his family. He was so happy and I gave him a Slovenian Book of Mormon! He went and showed his wife, then came back and found me and asked me to sign the front of it for him. I did so, and HE asked ME if he could give me his email address and have me teach him more! How perfect is that?! It was incredible. So I did, and I took his home address and he wants local missionaries to visit. If I was a missionary in Slovenia I would jump at the chance to teach someone who had already been introduced. When does that ever happen in those obscure little European countries? VC is the BEST! The other night in the VC it was really really slow, there was not ONE visitor there. So naturally, we put Johnny Lingo on in the theatre and one by one all the Sisters ended up in there while nobody was out there to talk to! We played Because of Him REALLY loudly too and there might've been some dancing too but I can't possibly disclose who might've been dancing. #youknowyou'reamissionarywhenyougetexcitedaboutplayingbecauseofhimanddancingtoitwithothermissionaries

So I'm learning a lot about relying on the Lord for strength. It's been a tough week! It seems like there was an ad in the newspaper urging everyone to make appointments with us and then to go out for dinner so that you're not in the house when the missionaries knock! OR just urging people to hurl all kinds of abuse at the Sisters! Both feasible ideas. We were trying to re-find this less active person I'd seen weeks ago and were walking to their house when we saw this old woman bent over on her drive picking things up and putting them in buckets. We were like, oh we should help, so we went over there. Before we even made it to her drive she shot up and started shouting all kinds of horrible things at us. We both just stopped and looked at her, and wished her a good evening and kept walking. She followed us still shouting and so I stopped and she kept coming towards me, and I thought she was going to hit me! I let her come closer and closer to me, and I just said “We are so sorry, we were not aware you felt that way. We will leave, have a good evening. Thank you for letting us know.” while she's shouting "NOBODY WANTS YOU HERE. NOBODY WANTS YOUR CAR ON OUR STREETS." and all kinds of hurtful things. We kept our heads held high and walked away and knew we were standing shoulder to shoulder with the Saviour who had much worse abuse yelled at him. The scripture in Mosiah 14 "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” means a lot more to me now. I am in no way comparing what we go through as missionaries to what the Saviour went through, but I know that I am coming to understand how He feels about people better. How He must've felt when He came to bring hope to people, and they rejected it. It can be so discouraging when you pray for people by name for days, spend an hour in the morning preparing for them, and then go to their house and they just don't answer. It's happened about 12 times this week. But we are learning to keep being happy despite circumstances. The Lord is sending blessings to help us remember He is still there and still loves us. We had a great District Meeting last week which was exactly what I needed. The Elder doing it was super inspired and taught about how the atonement can help us in missionary work. He used a often-used Elder Holland talk about missionary work and the atonement, which basically shows us how our missions are all about us learning how to use the atonement. If salvation wasn't easy for the Saviour to bring to mankind, why should it be easy for us. We need to cry out for help and use the atonement to keep trying and keep going. I feel like this week I've used mighty prayer more than ever before on my mission. I cant explain the sweet feelings that come as I know my Father is listening, and also that He understands me perfectly too. I plead with Him to bring my heart some joy, and I opened my scriptures and the first verse that my eyes hit said this : (John 16)

21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world

22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.

33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

And it was just exactly what I needed. Exactly! It brings me hope to know that He is aware of us all and loves us all perfectly. It's all a big learning experience! 

So an awesome story this week! D who I was teaching in the Teaching Centre got BAPTISED!!!

It was in Green valley so not very far away so I could go. They asked us to sing too, so myself and the two other Sisters sung "Lead Kindly Light"! It was a beautiful baptism. The Spirit was so strong, especially as the man said those words “Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ" he paused and couldn’t speak for a few seconds and everyone in the room was in tears! We brought two of our investigators and both were crying and then tried to explain to us that they felt this pressure in their chest but that it felt SO GOOD and both of them are pumped for baptism. I taught A after the baptism on a split with a member and she just cried the whole time and said she would be baptised this weekend or next weekend depending on what her husband said. If he didn’t mind her going ahead and doing it without him being there, she'd do it this Saturday. If he wants to be there, it'll be next Saturday! SO it's all great! I just remember the Spirit being in that lesson so strong, and I remember it being REALLY HOT in there haha. I think I sweated the whole way through the lesson. But that's just every day life now ;) always hot and sweaty. S is still going strong, 6 days without smoking! SO hopefully a baptism in a week and half!!

Last night  after our hard day we watched The Testaments after planning and gave each other back massages hahah #whatarecompanionsfor? I love my companion. I really love her! We are helping each other eat more healthily so I live on fruit and quinoa haha. With that said, we are craving krispy kreme donuts so if anyone wants to send us some that'd be great. The first person to send us some krispy kreme donuts will receive the prize of a HUG from me in 8 months time OK? THANKS. 

This week looks exciting! We have been asked to help out in Pioneer Day festivities on Thursday! On Friday we are going to do a free lemonade stand in the park in our area to try and find some people to teach. We will battle the heat! Also we got informed of a last minute special Multi Zone Conference in two weeks so maybe someone special is visiting! How exciting :) Exciting times as a missionary! Also a member we ate with is a dentist and is bleaching our teeth for free!! WOOOOOOO :) 

I love everything I'm learning and I love you all so much! 

Sister Nicholls 

"Consecration is the only surrender which is also a victory" - Neal A Maxwell - 15-7-14

Dear Family and Friends, 

I love my new companion! Sister Biery helps me to work harder and be better. We laugh a ton together and we are coming to know each other really well. I am so grateful for her, she is exactly what I need at this point in my mission. Some of the sisters who served at the VC but went home recently came back this weekend to visit and they asked me how I am and I responded that I just feel tired and they said that that's normal and you get through it :) so there's hope that the exhaustion will stop soon. You know you're becoming accustomed to st george weather when you get in the car and it says 90F and you're like "why is it so cold today?" haha. We had the worst experience ever on Sunday! We were fasting and we wanted to contact some referrals that were all on the same street, so we parked the car and walked and honestly I've never felt like I was walking through the desert more than I have that day. It was such a struggle to put one foot infront of the other, and we were drenched in sweat. We dragged ourselves to each door and prayed that one of them would open and not one of them did. We kept walking and made it to a members house and begged them for water. We looked at the thermometer and it was 111F! No wonder we were dying!! I've never felt so drained! It's exhausting!! I dont know if it's the 9month exhaustion point or if it is the heat but I've started sleeping at the most innappropriate times! Haha I fell asleep when Sister Biery was saying a really long prayer the other day. I dreamed and everything, and when she said amen, I said amen and jumped up and had a huge red mark on my forehead from my hands! Haha we were watching a movie with Lauren our investigator and I slept through most of it haha! Lukcily we've seen them all 1000 times so the ending notes woke me up and I was just like "So how did you feel when _______ " hahaha. BAD TIMES!! I always fall asleep in church too! I feel like my parents ;) BUT cool thing from Church, I was wearing my nametag with my british flag and I met Elder Tautfest's parents. They go to the ward across the street from the VC! They are really nice. They said he really liked basildon! They remembered that you were the Bishop, Dad. He's coming back home in August so maybe I'll meet someone who has seen my parents since I have :) It was definitely a tender mercy of the Lord! 

It seems like Little Valley is the place for active members in any denomination. The only people who are not members of the LDS church are the ministers and preachers of the other denominations. Most of them are really nice! We were invited into this female Methodist Minister's home and she was really nice. She told us that Joseph Smith used to be Methodist and we agreed whole heartedly. She knew her stuff. She isn't interested in learning more because she doesn't understand why the Lord would allow Methoidst women the Priesthood but why the Mormon women are not allowed. She thinks the Lord told the excommunicated woman yes to the Priesthood and thats why she keeps pursuing it. There wasnt much we could say back to that! Apart from that we've met with Baptist preachers, non denominational worship-leaders etc. I'm just working hard so that the power and authority of our calling from God can be manifest to the soft hearted. It's definitely a new experience compared to coming from Basildon where God just isn't a thing. 

We met with a less active woman yesterday who we first met on Sunday and she invited us back for Monday. It reminded me a lot of my first area, Washington, because she lives in what is probably the only run down bungalow looking apartment stuck on the side of a house. It felt like home to be back in an apartment like that :) not because our home is like that, but because the first 8 months of my mission was in places like that. Anyway she was married in the temple then got divorced and doesnt come to church ever. She's been to all the churches and thinks that there is truth in everything, and we agreed with that and talked about how each church is made from elements of truth and inspired people, but that there is a Church that contains the WHOLE truth and a Prophet called of God. It was pretty bold but we did it lovingly. Then one of the sweetest moments of my mission occurred. I asked her what prompted her to invite us back and she looked very thoughtful and stared at us for a while and said "Because of the light that is around you. I always invite the missionaries back because of the light that shines and radiates from them. You carry this bright light that nobody else has, and I just want to bask in it all day." it was powerful and so touching. You never realize the authority of your calling when you're the one marinating in it all day! When we said goodbye she hugged me tight and whispered "you have the most beautiful bright light shining from you". It was incredibly humbling and touching. Send me back to the humble poor people! 

Gina, our investigator who is afraid of baptismal committment tried to get herself off of date for August 16th. We let her off for a week then prayed so hard and went into the lesson and worked our best and the Lord sent the Spirit to guide us. Her concern is that she needs to be perfect after her baptism and I was like "Have you ever MET ME?? I've been baptized and I am NOWHERE near perfect!" hahaha. But we put her back on date forAUGUST 2nd so we got to move it forward!!! We are excited! Apart from that, Lauren is still doing good. She had a rough past, she's an orphan and went from foster home to foster home and did a lot of things she shouldnt have but she's ready to leave that all behind. She's just embracing the Gospel! Shane smokes and smokes and then feels bad and quits then goes back in the circle. ANy ideas for how to get people off of that circle would be greatly appreciated. Amy's husband came into town from Boston but they went out of town with each other for the whole week so no baptism :( We think we will give her a btpsimal date and invite her to invite him to come back into town for that day! 

My Teaching Center investigator's are going good! I LOVE teaching over the phone. it defintiely takes some getting used to but once you've accustomed to not seeing the person's facial expressions or body language it gets better. I LOVE IT. One of them said the best thing I've ever heard! We were talking about 1 Nephi 1: 9-10 and countenances and radiances, and I asked him "what do you think is something you can do to make sure that you have that radiance about you?" and he thought about it for a few seconds and said "..................be mormon......." hahaha I was like YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT!!!" 

Since we were invited to deactivate our facebook accounts and stop listening to music other than mormon tabernacle choir I've been praying a lot about what more I can sacrifice. The Lord definitely shows us what we need to do. It's often painful and difficult, but along with sacrificing whatever the Lord wants comes the sacrifice of our pride. As we hand over to him the things that we've been carrying with us for so long, the attributes that are not Christ-like, or the vices we haven't buried deep in the earth, we are ultimately handing over our pride and our will. I've been drawn to studying D&C88:119 but changing the words so it says : 119 Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a mission, even a mission of prayer, a mission of fasting, a mission of faith, a mission of learning, a mission of glory, a mission of order, a mission of God;

It's my greatest desire to make my mission a mission of God. Not my own, not anyone elses, but His. Consecration really is the only surrender which is ultimately a victory! My mission is teaching me so much, and I cant believe that I only have 8 months left! I need to learn everything I can while I still have time. I love you all and need your prayers and strength. 

Sister Nicholls

Celebrating Independence Day as a Brit in the USA - 7-7-14

Dear Loved Ones, 

Let me start with my transfer call: I am staying in Little Valley and I'm receiving Sister Biery as my new companion! I'm so excited about it! She came out a transfer after me and was trained in Morningside when I was there training Sister Garcia so we have lots of fun and know each other really well already! I'm so excited to be companions with her. Luke met her and took a pic with her when he was down here the other month! She's from Kentucky and is called German speaking here. So maybe I'll pick up some German :) I'm excited to be staying in beloved Little Valley! It's gorgeous and I love the people. 

We've had a ton of storms this week! St George is really good at flooding when it rains. We were driving home through the rain and all the roads were more flooded than I've ever seen in England, and it rains a LOT in England. It was scary! I drove like 10mph and tested the brakes after each lake I drove through (Louise would've been proud of me ;]). Apart from that there has been many a sand storm! It's always bad in Little Valley then we drive back to the main part of St George and it's fine. Lots of wind, which is always a great look for a Sister Missionary wearing a skirt right? Now I'm REALLY close friends with a lot of people in Little Valley ;) 

So I celebrated my first 4th July in America! Sister Pearson and I (the other Brit) had Zone Training Meeting with our Zone of Americans and as we entered the chapel we were like “How many offensive comments do you think we'll get today?" and we goaled for about 7. Within the first ten minutes we'd already hit 5! "Hey Sisters! How do you feel being in America knowing that we beat you?" or "Hey Sisters! What do Brits talk about on Independence Day?" and I felt thoroughly racially offended. Haha!! And then we sung the Star Spangled Banner for the opening hymn and all us Brits and Frenchies sung to the best of our ability! I'm getting better at that song the more I practise haha. Then after our meeting we went to the VC and Chick-fil-a had provided a lunch for us all #noeldersallowed #vcsistersonly it was great!! I LOVE Chick-fil-a! President and Sister Center came too :) Then we were on shift at the VC for the rest of the day! We got to watch 17 Miracles and Ephraim's Rescue so that was exciting! It brought back so many memories because the last time I watched them was at Christmas for our Zone Activity, and the time before that was when I opened my mission call! They'll always bring those memories back! The whole way through the films I was just thinking about the experiences I've had since I last watched them and who I've met and who I've become. Lots of growing has definitely been done. I think they'll always be nostalgic films now :) It was funny at Church on Sunday because all the hymns were American hymns that I didn’t know (except My Country Tis Of Thee!) then everyone’s testimonies were like "I'm so grateful to be a citizen of this beautiful country, we should all thank God that we are American" and I sat there feeling AWKWARD. We had a great p-day last week too! We went to the Dinosaur museum and had fun! Like true VC Sisters we couldn’t go to a museum without trying to give each other a tour. We made up all this rubbish about the dinosaurs and tried to sell it convincinly to each other. It was a ton of fun! Afterwards we went to Wingers and had lots and lots of chicken wings! That's how we do p-day in St George. 

Funny story this week! We had to take out our rubbish and we put it in a bag and left it inside our front door to take out when we got home because we didn’t have time to walk to the big bins right then. So we did our shift at the VC and came home, and we opened our front door to grab our rubbish and .......IT WAS GONE!!! It was hilarious! We were like WHAT THE HECK WHO TOOK OUR RUBBISH!!!!!!! (I think it was Dexter, he's always taking things ;]) So stay tuned to find out the end of that story! Hahah! 

I've officially ended my time as Visitors’ Centre Trainer. It is finished! It went by so fast. I love all the experiences I've had as a result of that assignment. I've come to love the Watkins like they are my own parents! I've spent so long in the office with them talking and talking and learning from their experiences that I'm going to be sad if I ever go outbound and don't see them every day. We talked a LOT this last week and I love to learn from them. The VC has been slower than usual with not as many buses, but that's okay! It's giving me time to reflect on things I want to improve and get to know the Sisters better. I received my half way papers last week! It contains the goals I wrote down on my first day in the mission field, so it was great to see where I'm at with them and recommit myself to the work! I never want that Greenie fire to die! 

We've worked hard to help our investigators to progress. S is still doing really well not smoking. It's been a week and he's smoked ONE cigarette. He'll make it! We are praying for him and seeing him most days to keep him strong. A had appendicitus and was rushed to hospital so isn't very well but she's spiritually doing great still. She said the words every missionary wants to hear, and it even says the exact phrase in Preach My Gospel "When I first heard about this gospel, it filled a hole in my heart that I didn't even know was there." She is incredible and she feeds my soul. She is very spiritual and shared with us a great experience she had with prayer the other night. She prayed for certain things then when she was hiking a mountain the next day she felt God speaking to her and showing her everything He has given her. She wants to be baptized, and we got a miracle! Her husband is coming in to town this week!!! We prayed and fasted for that for ages! He's coming into town and she’s going to tell him she wants to be baptized, and then hopefully it can happen! I love her so much! Also we had a good lesson with K. She is still waiting for parental permission. We are trying everything we can think of. She reminds me so much of Sam! While praying for her I felt prompted to teach tithing and invite her to sacrifice more in order to receive more miracles. It was a GREAT lesson and the Spirit was strong and she cried when we knelt and prayed together at the end, beseeching the Lord that as she pays her tithing He will open out the windows of Heaven and soften her parents hearts. We are good friends with her by now and I just love her so much. She wants it so bad! 

Then my VC investigators are on fire too! I have three on date for baptism this month and I'm trying my best to contact them regularly. Two miracles this week! Remember R who I wrote about last week? The guy who called the VC front desk? I spoke to him on Wednesday and asked how Church was and he was like "I felt something incredible and sweet there, and when I left the Chapel, the feeling left. How can I have that back?" so I went straight into teaching about baptism and the Holy Ghost and he said he definitely wants that. I put him in touch with his local missionaries and all is going well! He was baptized as a Baptist but knows there must be something more. I love him! I'm continuing to teach him on the phone. Then I called this woman whose number I'd gotten a while ago and it turns out she really wants to learn but her husband doesn't, so they told the Elders who had been visiting them that they can't see them anymore (worst feeling EVER), but then she said it would be awesome if I taught her on the phone because then her husband doesn’t have to feel uncomfortable! So she really wants to learn but he doesn’t so it's the perfect remedy. Sort of! So hopefully I can teach her and then she'll warm up to having real life missionaries visit again! Miraclesmiraclesmiracles! 

We tried this thing the Zone Leaders challenged us to do, where you plan to be somewhere at a certain time of the day and ask the Lord to prepare someone for you. We went to the area we'd chosen, and started knocking. KNOCKING, in LITTLE VALLEY WHERE ITS 95% ACTIVE MEMBERS. Anyway the Lord did PROVIDE. We found a few less active members that are ready to come back to Church and a non-member family who were SO FRIENDLY and we're going to visit them again next week! They gave us Gatorade because it was about 115 degrees and they were all SO NICE! First thing we did when we got back in the car was pray thanks to Heavenly Father for watching over us and providing us with people. I LOVE being a missionary! 

Well I need to run off now! But I'm grateful for all I've learned this transfer and I'm beyond excited for the transfer ahead. Just over 8 more months til I see your beautiful faces. Thank you for all your love and support!

Sister Nicholls