This week I got my first BRITISH BUS at the Visitors' Center! Every day we get buses from all over Europe and each time I crack the joke "perhaps it's the Brits today!" and so I saunter out there ready to speak French to greet the tour guides and I ask where they're from and the bus driver says "Where you are from?" It was so exciting! They all congregated on the chairs at the Christus and the tour guide says "Ladies and Gentlemen, I don't believe in coincidences and today has proved no different. Giving our tour today will be a young lady from Essex!" and they all cheered hahahahah!!! It was hilarious! There were a few from Braintree and Colchester so it was so cool! They took quite a few Books of Mormon. I was praying the whole time to know what to say to the Brits, and I brought up the Book of Mormon musical and told them that as with all things, the book is much better than the play ;) haha they all laughed and I got kissed on the cheek by many of them #europeanways #itsbeenayear haha They all left and said "Cheerio" and "Ta ta" haha! I was so pumped the rest of the day because I finally got my British bus! We also got a German bus and only one German Sister was there and she is brand new so didn't know what to do. I had just been talking to a young man who recently returned home from his mission in Germany and so I went back to him and asked if he would like to assist and he gladly accepted! It was the strangest looking thing to see one Sister missionary and one random boy in a suit giving a tour! But it was so great of him to help out and the Sister said his German was incredible!
We have indeed continued to have rough times this week but I've felt the calm and sweet assurance from the Holy Ghost that we are doing all that we can for these people. We got dropped by text by a third investigator this week. In the Young Single Adult wards you get dropped a lot because the people let you teach once and set up a return appointment then NEVER see you again, but when it's the people who are on date for baptism and who meet with you regularly and are doing so well is when it hurts because you just love them so much. So that happened again this week and then the cherry on top of it all was when H who was supposed to get baptized on Saturday told us that he is 17 and that he doesn't feel ready for baptism yet. The Koeven's were there with us when he blew us out with that unexpected revelation. I was on splits with Sister Koeven so my companion could teach another investigator at the same time so I just had to figure it out. I prayed SO hard in my head and was guided to Alma 32 and we discussed faith and how we aren't expected to know everything before baptism, but just to believe. I realized through the Spirit that he isn't doubting Heavenly Father, but he is doubting himself. He has been taught all the lessons so he knows enough and has been to church enough but is just getting worried. I didn't want to push him to be baptized this week, so he pushed it back for a week. We keep praying for a miracle! But the great thing was that when all these things took place this week I just felt so calm and fine, and felt the assurance that this is all a part of the bigger plan Heavenly Father has. I am feeling the strengthening power of the atonement carrying me through all these times that would've been rough before. We've listened to "This Is The Christ" by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir a lot this week and one line that stands out to me the most is - how many drops of blood were spilled for me? That blood that he spilled back then has carried me through this week with ease. I've felt the power of your prayers, so thank you for praying, My burdens have been made light and I am learning to just love the investigators unconditionally.
We had a beautiful miracle with D! He has always said he'd get baptized if he found out it was true and this week he just looked at us and said "Sisters, every day this feels more and more true." We showed him God's Plan for His Family and he just cried and cried and said that he wants to be baptized! It was GREAT! He even went back to Provo for the weekend because it was fall break (Dixie campus was DEAD. Everyone left!) and went to Church all of his own accord! That's true conversion and that's someone who will keep covenants after baptism. At the Visitors' Center on Monday a different Young Single Adult Stake had their Family Home Evening to watch a movie and one of the kids brought a boy from OUR area with him! It is one of our investigator's roommates that we recognised. He is a massive punk kid though and usually is so inappropriate with us and just the last person that the world would judge to accept the Gospel. But he came and we showed him the Mormon Message "Origin" and the Spirit was SO STRONG and his eyes had tears in them and he said we can start teaching him! He has no family and moves around from city to city in America crashing in people's apartments. We are going to try to get him to stay here so he can accept the Gospel! In that room the Spirit was just burning and I just knew that God has a much greater plan for him than his own of just moving from city to city. I witnessed first hand how the Gospel can touch even the toughest hearts.
Exchanges were good this week! My first two were hard because both the
Sisters have been in the mission longer than me and are older than me in real life too, so I felt inadequate and it was quite difficult. But yesterday I went with a Sister who is straight out from the MTC and we both just felt like we'd known each other forever! AND she is serving in Morningside so I got to go back there! They are full proselyting in Morningside now so no more VC for them, so I got a full day back there and we tracted for about 3 hours and visited some members and got about 8 referrals and miracle of all miracles was that we got a return appointment with a family I was always trying to contact when I was there. It was funny because two of the members we had visited with were two of the most solid member missionaries ever and one gave us a MASS LOAD of chocolate milk, and the other a ton of water, and we went straight to this non member family's house and at the door the Mum asked "Do you want a drink of water?" because it was still like just under 90 degrees yesterday. I had so much liquid in my body but so badly wanted to teach them that we looked at each other and said "Yes please, we are soooo thirsty!!!" and entered the home!!! There we were for about half an hour as we talked and connected and friendshipped and drunk more and more water and got an appointment for next week! We gave them a Book of Mormon and they seemed very happy! We were SO HAPPY!!! But then had to go to the next house and beg to use the bathroom haha! The things we do as missionaries ;) The highlight of the day was definitely that and then we saw M, KC and E, all people that I worked a lot with in Morningside! M is doing INCREDIBLY!!! Remember how she would never look at us and would hardly say anything? She talked SO MUCH that we were twenty minutes late to our next appointment. She was like a different person! The Sister missionaries that are there right now are so good for her and have just loved her and brought her out of her shell. They are doing so good there in Morningside. Also miracle miracle miracle update! Remember my last exchange in Morningside with Sister Donovan when we went back to the scary old man's house to give him a Book of Mormon and he said how he felt the power and the light around us and that he will read the book? We taught him and put him on date for baptism in November!!!!! He has given up coffee and smoking and cut his scary hair and reads the Book of Mormon every day and is in Enos and wants to be baptized! So we put him on date for November 8th!!! I don't know what it is about him because he's an old man but we just have a connection and it just shows how inspired exchanges truly are because if we never would've gone on exchanges I'd never have had the opportunity to meet with him and he has enriched my life for sure!
I'm super tired because on most exchanges the Sisters talk and talk into the night about their lives and stuff and then when I'm back with my companion we have to catch each other up on the Sisters and on the area etc and so then we talk and talk and then we get up early to work out and then essentially work out all day every day as we bike around St George and walk everywhere! My body is drained but somehow I find the energy to keep going and going and never have to stop! We've had dinner with two of our Bishops and another one this week. They loved their flowers and were very appreciative! I have interviews with President this Friday morning at 10am! I love President Center! Please pray that we will be led to the elect and that we will teach with power and authority! Alma 58:10-11 helped me a ton this week :)
I love you all sooooooo much!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR TOMORROW TO THE BEST DAD IN THE ENTIRE WORLD! You have showed me how to serve and how to love and how to follow Christ and bring people closer to Him. I am blessed to have you for eternity. Any boy in the world needs to be anything like you for me to contemplate getting to know him!
LOVE YOU ALL
Sister Nicholls
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