March 15, 2010

Hola todos

Wow what a week it´s been. We have been doing a lot. First on monday we went and started to clean the church from about 11 until 7 pm and took out the carpet and tons of people were there from other parts of Chile helping to get the chapel ready for sunday. People were working on it all week. On wednesday we were there and cleaning and then some guy ran in and said tsunami alert and at the time I was outside cleaning stuff so my comp and I walked in and got our backpacks because everything we own is in there and some guy was yelling at us and said hurry this is no joke, but we had plenty of time because we went up on this high road and waited there for 2 hours just waiting and nothing happened. There was an after shock in Valporazio or somewhere but ya nothing happened in Dichato. So anyways we got to make some visits and I gave my first blessing in spanish this past week and I was so scared but it worked out pretty good so I was grateful for that. I just wanna say how Much I love teaching people and bearing my testimony and feeling the spirit and having the spirit teach. So my comp and I did splits with the missionaries were living with the other night and went into this persons house and this lesson was really weird, but really good, and some how it got onto the Book of Mormon because my comp shared a scripture from it and my then the questions came. My comp tried talking about all the ancient facts of the Book of Mormon and how people lived here in the Americas and such. And he really wasn't taking the bate. So I stepped in and basically just told him How I knew it was true how I prayed and asked God and how God CAN'T lie and I asked him if he would ask in a prayer if it is true and he said he would. I don't know if he did But I know he felt something as we were there.

So as for Dichato tons of people are living there in tents and it´s really sad but in a way the people of Dichato really needed to be humbled. I know that this earthquake happened for the benefit because God does nothing that does not benefit his children. So the chapel was ready for this past sunday and we had a special guest and Elder Amaddo came he is the president in the area presidency of Chile. This past week we were inviting everybody to church and went around to all the members and asked them what there needs were. But usually in church we have around 16 or 20 every sunday and for 3 sundays we had 8 but this sunday we had 45 people at church. It was AMAZING and I really hope that everyone keeps coming. I really hope that the people will be more receptive now and people will want to come unto Christ and follow his example in the correct form. I am grateful for everyone and your prayers hope all is well take care.

Love Elder Nichols

Great Week-March 29, 2010

So this week we did so much service it was great and there were tons of missionary's. We went into some houses that were destroyed and took out everything and it was crazy and really sad at the same time. I just want to say that I love being a missionary and letting people know they can change and that through Jesus Christ anything is possible. There is this lady who hasn't come to church in a long time and so right after the earth quake she was on her way to church the first Sunday we were holding meetings and as she was on her way down she was stopped by someone who told her her son just killed himself. So we visited her that week and we have started to teach her husband he has a date to get baptized on the 25 but this past week we were coming down from their house and it was really dark and we heard this voice say, Mormons Mormons and so we went over there slowly. It was The older brother who is 23 of the guy who killed himself. He is not a member but he asked us why would someone kill them self. And I had no idea how to respond. We told him we cant always understand everything but we know God loves you. Long story short he told us he wanted to change and be better but he has done a lot of bad stuff and that you can through Jesus Christ and that you can see your brother again. I told him about my parents and how that has been hard for me. The spirit was pretty strong even though he was drinking a little, he was crying. My heart went out to him and it made me hurt inside. But we went back the next day and taught him and it was so awesome and I know once he prays and asks God some things he will be truly converted.


Well We had 41 People at church this past week and I was SO STOKED it was great. We have found some great people and if everybody could pray for victor and margarita they are the golden family. Also my comp and I got to go to the mall here and buy some new clothes and wow let me tell you it was so weird we felt so out of place but it was good to buy some new things. The best part is that we bought MCDONALD'S it was AMAZING no other words to describe it. Things are going good here not much else to say but the pics I sent are from Dichato and the people are members that we had some kits that we were sending around. There is this guy with this sweet moustache. Well I gotta Go but if anyone has any questions just ask. Next week I will try and send some pics of the camps that people are living in so you all can get an image of what people are living in. It is really sad and it´s hard to see.


Love Elder Nichols

This is the whole story of my earthquake experience

So here is basically what happened I woke up first at 330 in the morning and my bed was shaking and the whole house also and my comp was still sleeping and he then I started yelling elder elder elder and we finally woke up and then we we screaming for about 6 seconds. We heard everything falling down in our house and glasses falling.It was one of the scariest feelings ever. Then my comp and I ran under the table and then we waited for it to calm down. And I just grabbed my scriptures in english because they were right there and my wallet and my camera which was in my backpack.All I was wearing was some basketball shorts and my sweatshirt . Then we left and bolted out the door but I did slip on my shoes. It was nuts when we ran out of the house I felt like I was in a movie. I will never forget how I felt. As soon as we left the house we could see so many people yelling and running and just in pure panic. There was a huge truck that had a bunch of people on the back of it and it was so dark. So we started running so fast because we didn't know when the water was going to come because we lived really close to the beach. But we started running for the hills and on the way we found our golden family and we went up the mountains with them and these mountains were so steep that we were climbing up. It was nuts it was such an adrenaline rush. But my stomach was feeling so weird and just all the unknown. So we got in the hills and then we started to make a fire and then one of the members came from higher up and asked us to go back down to the bottom of the hill and go to his house and get some water and some food and clothes for his family and so we did. By the time we got back to the top I was so tired. But when we got back we could see the ocean receding like parting the red sea it was a crazy site to see. We could only see it from the reflection of the moon. But once the moon went down we started to hear crashing noises and we were all kinda unsure of what that was but I was thinking it was the houses and such getting destroyed by the water. And throughout the night there were earthquakes still going on. But as the sun came up reality hit Dichato and things would never be the same and for that matter I think I myself will never be the same. I say this because Dichato was under water. Now My comp and I were pretty calm but just kinda in shock a little. I was feeling so bad for these people because now they have nothing and even before this they really didn't have that much but the summer had just gotten over and they all rent out their houses for the summer to make money but now they cant do that anymore. It´s something that you always see on the news and in movies and you say oh that would suck and you feel bad but when your there first had and you know these people and you love them it´s a different feeling. It´s hard to explain. So after the water went back to the ocean we went down there to look around and see our house but when we got there our house didn't exist the only thing that existed was the foundation of the house. We couldn't even find any parts of our house. It was nuts. I have some crazy sad pics for everybody but I will try and get those next week. So then we got in contact with the elders from the next city over and nothing happened to them or their city really at all so we hitch hiked a ride in a guys truck and met up with them and we slept in the church there for a few nights without water and we had a little food we had in the apartments of the other missionaries. it was kinda cool but kinda creepy at night without power we had gas to cook so that was good. Then we moved all our stuff up to a church where the stake pres was staying and other members so we could get direction from him on what to do. But we got shipments of food in and sorted it and we also received tons of clothes from other parts of Chile to give to people in Dichato. Yesterday we went there and went around to people and asked them what they needed and how we could help them. Also started cleaning out the chapel because it got flooded and was pretty gross yesterday. But tons of inactive people say they want to come to church this sunday and hopefully it will be ready in time to have a meeting. Right now my comp and I are staying with some other missionaries and today we will find out what will happen with us. I really want to stay because there are people ready in Dichato now to listen and accept this true gospel of Jesus Christ.

SO what I have taken away from this whole experience is that God has a plan for us and is always preparing us for something in the future and it gave me a glimpse of what the last days are going to be like and how we always need to be prepared for anything and always have food storage. Also that material items are really not that important and that it´s just stuff and it´s not everything. Because we cant take things with us to heaven. This experience has made me think when we are in front of the judgement bar and you take everything away from us our jobs our houses, cars, families, and you take all that away and then here is the question. Who are we really when you take everything away? I just know that God has his reasons for why he does things and all will work out in the end. I have a testimony of this gospel and I know it´s true with all my heart mind and spirit. I am grateful to be sealed to my parents and I hope there are no empty chairs in the celestial kingdom that is my prayer.
Love
Elder Nichols

Ps. I am doing good and my spirits are high just trying to help people and do my best.

Garretts Phone Call: March 5, 2010

Garrett asked me to relay his story from our phone conversation on his blog, so his family and friends could know what happened with him.

At around 3:30am (Chile time,Feb. 27th) Garrett and his companions were woken up with their home shaking, things falling off the shelves and breaking. Garrett and his companion jumped out of bed screaming and ran to get under the kitchen table. Once the shaking stopped, they heard people screaming through the streets that a tsunami was coming and people needed to get to higher ground. Garrett and his comp threw on their shorts, sweatshirts, and shoes, he grabbed his wallet, scriptures and camera, threw it into his backpack and was out the door. He said it was as if he had just run out onto a movie set. People were running and screaming all over the place. He and his comp. were running along with everyone else up into the hills. Once they were up in the hills, people began to light fires as there was no source of light, but the moon. Garrett said they could see the ocean, and said they saw it split in half as though it was the parting of the Red Sea. As soon as they saw that, they heard very loud crashing coming from the ocean below. They remained on the mountain until the sun came up. They were then able to head down the mountain to see the village of Dichato. Unfortunately there was nothing left of the town. 80% of it was under water. Garrett had found where his house once stood, all was left was the foundation, they were unable to find any remnants of his house. There was no electricity whatsoever, but somehow between 7-7:30am, the phone lines opened up for that short period so they were able to contact their zone leader to let them know they were okay. Garrett attributed that moment to calling it "God's Satellite". From that point they hitchhiked to a town called Tome. The chapel for Dichato members is there in Tome. That Sunday Feb. 28th, they realized they had no food, so they thought it best to head to a store in order to purchase some food. When they got there the doors had been smashed open, no lights were on inside, and people were running out with arm loads and shopping carts full of food. He said he could see empty shelves. So they decided not to get involved with that situation and found a members house to visit. The members were able to feed them, and have been able to feed them since. They have been put on a curfew and can leave from the hours of 12pm-6pm. The robbing and the looting have become worse as prisoners from a prison have escaped. A few days ago, the church was able to send in a truck load of food to go out to people. There was another earthquake that hit that morning in Chile, it was an 8.3, as Garrett and I spoke he was feeling the aftershocks of it. The area general authorities are there now assessing the situation as to what will happen next with the missionaries. Garrett said that he will let the family know what he needs when we are able to start sending things to Chile. He said to send his love to everyone.

March 3, 2010

Hey guys,
Don't worry about sending anything for now, because the church will take care of it, I am pretty sure. So it was crazy, one of the most scariest things I have ever been through in my life. And yes Dichato is destroyed I will send pics when I have time but I don't know how to explain it but I am ok and doing good. It just sucks because my sector was doing so great and we were about to have a baptisms but the sector doesn't really exist anymore. But I will keep everybody updated but also the chapel that we are in they say has water damage it is the same chapel that is used for Dichato. Well I gotta go Love you all.


Love Elder Nichols

March 2, 2010

hey everybody I am ok. my sector I was living in is in ruins. I have
nothing everything I own is gone but all the missionaries are ok. It
was CRAZY our house doesn't exist anymore. I couldn't find anything. But
right now we are in a church and sleeping here where there is light
and such for now. Not really sure whats going to happen but I will
email you more when I have a chance. I got some crazy pics.
Love Elder Nichols

Dichato-where Garrett is...

msnbc.com news services
updated 4:19 p.m. PT, Tues., March. 2, 2010

In the village of Dichato, teenagers drinking on the beach were the first to shout the warning when they saw a horseshoe-shaped bay empty about an hour after the quake. They ran through the streets, screaming. Police joined them, using megaphones.

The water rose steadily, surging above the second floors of homes and lifting them off their foundations. Cars were stacked three high in the streets. Miles inland along a river valley, cows munched next to marooned boats, refrigerators, sofas and other debris.

"The maritime radio said there wouldn't be a tsunami," said Rogilio Reyes, who was warned off by the teenagers.

Dichato Mayor Eduardo Aguilera said 49 people were missing and 800 homes were destroyed. Some people fled to high ground, only to return too early and get caught by the tsunami, he said.

State of Catastrophe Declared in Chile After Massive 8.8-Magnitude Quake

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Chile's president declared a state of catastrophe in the aftermath of a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake Saturday that left bodies, crumbled buildings and outages in its wake.

The country's national emergency office said more than 300 people were dead, and the pre-dawn quake — the most powerful quake to hit the country in a half century — also cut electricity, water and phone lines to many outlying areas, meaning there was no immediate word of death or damage there.

The quake also unleashed a tsunami across the ocean, putting much of the Pacific Rim on alert for potentially devastating waves.

Hawaii Officials Evacuate Coastal Areas

Early Saturday, President Michele Bachelet, speaking at an emergency response center, appealed for Chileans to remain calm.

"Despite this, the system is functioning. People should remain calm. We're doing everything we can with all the forces we have. Any information we will share immediately," Bachelet said.

SLIDESHOW: First photos from Chilean quake

President-elect Sebastian Pinera said the earthquake caused serious damage to the country's infrastructure.

In the town of Talca, 65 miles from the quake's epicenter, its historic center, filled with buildings of adobe mud and straw, largely collapsed, though most of those were businesses that were not populated during the 3:34 a.m. quake. Neighbors pulled at least five people from the rubble while emergency workers, themselves disoriented, asked for information from reporters.

In the Chilean capital of Santiago, 200 miles northeast of the epicenter, a car dangled from a collapsed overpass, the national Fine Arts Museum was badly damaged and an apartment building's two-story parking lot pancaked, smashing about 50 cars whose alarms rang incessantly.

Santiago's airport will remain closed for at least 24 hours, airport director Eduardo del Canto said. The passenger terminal suffered major damage, he told Chilean television in a telephone interview. TV images show smashed windows, partially collapsed ceilings and pedestrian walkways destroyed.

The city's subway was shut as well, and hundreds of buses were trapped at a terminal by a damaged bridge, the transportation and telecommunications minister told Chilean TV. He urged Chileans to make phone calls or travel only when absolutely necessary.

The tsunami set off by the quake threatened every nation around the Pacific Ocean — roughly a quarter of the globe. Warnings were issued over a wide area, including South America, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines, Russia and many Pacific islands.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's tsunami warning monitors reported a wave measuring nearly eight feet hit near Talcahuano, Chile, about 90 minutes after the quake hit. Other waves of up to four feet hit other coastal areas. The NOAA has placed its alert on the highest level — severe.

A number of aftershocks continue to hit Chile, the largest one registering at magnitude 6.9, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Click for data from the USGS

U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told Fox News that the embassy is reaching out to the Chilean government to offer assistance. He reported that the 100 personnel at the embassy are OK and accounted for.

"Chile has both significant capabilities and strong building codes. Second, the embassy has activated its warden system to communicate with Americans in Chile and make sure they are okay," Crowley said.

The quake epicenter was just 70 miles from Concepcion, Chile's second-largest city, where more than 200,000 people live along the Bio Bio river, and 60 miles from the ski town of Chillan, a gateway to Andean ski resorts that was destroyed in a 1939 earthquake.

In Santiago, modern buildings are built to withstand earthquakes, but many older ones were heavily damaged, including the Nuestra Senora de la Providencia church, whose bell tower collapsed.

In the coastal city of Vina del Mar, the earthquake struck just as people were leaving a disco, Julio Alvarez told Radio Cooperativa in Santiago. "It was very bad, people were screaming, some people were running, others appeared paralyzed. I was one of them."

Several hospitals have been evacuated due to earthquake damage, she said, and communications with the city of Concepcion remained down. She planned to tour the affected region as quickly as possible to get a better idea of the damage.

The largest earthquake ever recorded struck the same area of Chile on May 22, 1960. The magnitude-9.5 quake killed 1,655 people and left 2 million homeless. The tsunami that it caused killed people in Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines and caused damage to the west coast of the United States.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Pictures: February 22, 2010

so here are some pics from this battle fort and there were tons of bats in it. Thats what a lot of these pics are, and some are of us in Dichato and some are my district right now. The elder and I who are making pancakes is from a mini cambio. Sorry I forgot the word in english but yeah we were making pancakes it was way fun.

February 22, 2010

Hey everybody como estamos?

Wow this week was amazing it truly was we went to this guys house that we had a return appt for last Monday and we taught him lesson 1 and he has a wife and 2 kids and one of his kids is ten and the other is 4 but the lesson was amazing. He doesn't have much of a religious background so it was pretty easy to teach him. Everything was making so much sense to him. His name is Victor, and we gave him a Book of Mormon and had him read the promise in it, in Moroni, and he was stumbling over the words so we didn't think he understood what it meant but after he got done reading it he said "wow thats so true" and he went off to explain the scripture perfectly and we didn't have to explain anything but we just bore our testimony and it was just great. And then we gave him the section to read in 3rd Nephi, and I said he could read it with his kids before they go to bed and he said they read the bible each night together and he said he would read it with them. So we invited him again to be baptized again for the 14th and he accepted. But then we went back 2 days later and he let us in and we asked him if he had a chance to read and he said he did and we were stoked and he read it with his FAMILY and I was grinning from ear to ear. His wife was walking in the hallway, I said hi, and she came down and sat and listened and she said the chapter we gave her talked so much about baptism. We have a new approach for baptism now we call it the reigno the "kingdom of God" and we focus on, that without baptism it´s impossible to get there and its the first step. So we taught her lesson 1 to catch her up with her husband. We invited them to come to church and they said they were going to come.
So Sunday rolls around and guess who come walking in the door and they came early it was Them, i WAS FREAKING OUT it was so awesome. They really like it. It was great also we had like 37 people at church because a bunch of people were there from vacation but it was nice to have a bunch of people in church. We have a noche de hogar planned with them a family home evening with our golden investigators our family they are truly awesome we are going to watch the restoration with them and their kids and they are going to make completos wihich are Fancy hot dogs. They said they want to start the Book of Mormon from the beginning. This week was a complete turn around it was amazing.

So yeah we are defiantly going to have some baptisms in march so everybody pray for Victor and Margarita and their son that all goes well. Our shower got fried it´s an electric shower so we have been taking cold showers this week it really wakes you up if you know what I mean, but it´s a good exercise. Today we had a zone activity and went to this old battle ground fort where there were bats in these tunnels, it was sweet. Ill send some pics next week when I have more time. We played ultimate Frisbee on this beach where nobody was, it was sweet. Well sorry it´s kinda short but I gotta go and hope everybody is doing well.

Love Elder Nichols

February 15, 2010

Hey everyone so here another week has flown by faster than ever, but this week was a chain full of events that kinda was a little rough, but hey thats what missions are right!!!
Lets see here where do I begin. First on Tuesday we went to one of our investigators houses and her daughter who is 11 answered the door she said her mom was busy and that she couldn't come to the door so we told her to go ask her mom when we could come back and so we waited and she came back and said that her mom said if she lets us teach her again then her dad will hit her mom. Now that made me sick, first off that a mom would have to tell her daughter that, and secondly because she was way good and was a good possibility of getting baptized. So then the next day we went by this other investigator and she has a little girl who is 9 and way good we had taught them twice. The first lesson we teach is always lesson 3 which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is about baptism and we invite them the very first lesson to get baptized and set a date. We do this because our mission president told us to do so and so we are obedient to what he says. But she accepted the date and everything and then we went back and taught her lesson 1 which is the restoration and gave her a book of Mormon. Things were going great until we go back there and then she told us that her husband didn't want us teaching her. But we found out later from some people that are friends with her is that the real reason is that we talked about baptism too much so she dropped us. The sad part is that if she never gets baptized she will never get a remission of her sins.
It broke my heart this week to have that happen twice in the same week but there is more. So then there was a bunch of water coming out from our house going into the road from under the ground so my comp went and turned off the water valve and then we left. Then later that night when we returned to the house he went to go turn it back on and he stepped on the PVC water pipe that was angled on a rock and it snapped. So we tried fixing it and it didn't work. So we were not able to shower on sunday but our branch presidents son came over when he gave us a ride home and helped us fix it for the day. But today my comp and I fixed it so it´s all good except for the water leaking out of the ground when we flush the toilet. Some manos activo in Dichato built the house so we are going to go talk with him tonight thats what our land lady said for us to do. So yeah good times here in Chile also during the whole week we only got into six houses and the rest of the time we knocked doors.

But somehow I'm still happy and my comp and I have just been laughing about all this stuff that has been happening and how no investigators have come to church this past sunday. We did find a middle aged man and taught him lesson 3 in his door but was really receptive to everything so maybe that will turn into something good. I just know that the Lord is testing us and satan wants us to give up and not work hard but this past week I have never worked so hard on my mision. We worked when we didn't want to and just kept at it.
I would like to thank my uncle Gary right now for teaching me how to work at a young age for times like these when I didn't feel like working at all but I know we needed to. It will be really different when I get transferred into an area where there are members and a ward and more that 8 people at church. But I I know that if I can get through this rough time on my mission right now there is no rough thing I can´t get through. The Lord works in many mysterious ways and ways we don't always understand. I have truly learned that here. The Lord knows us and our thoughts and feelings and heartaches and trials. But the real test is what we make of it while in these trials and how we deal with it and the people we become after. I dont know if that even makes sense, but I don't want it to make it sound like I'm preaching and I know I'm only 19 almost 20, and still have a lot to learn, but I know my savior lives and that he loves us. Well I gotta go take care everyone.


Love Elder Nichols

February 10, 2010

Wow can you believe I have 6 months out in the mission and have been in Chile for 4 months. It´s pretty hard to believe. These past three weeks have just seemed to have flown by so fast. It´s weird when your working hard and time just goes. In these past three weeks my comp and I have really got the Vinson to baptize and invite people to enter the Waters. It´s amazing how happy this gospel can make you and trying to help peoples lives change for the better, but it´s hard when they don't see it like that. For example this past Saturday, the weather was horrible and the rain was coming down like crazy, my comp is from Seattle so the rain doesn´t bother him, so we were walking down the street with our jackets on without hoods and and just had the biggest smiles on our faces and I started waiving at everybody that was driving by in their cars it was so fun. My comp and I started singing it was fun. We then had an app with some Adventist's 7th day that was pretty interesting and we taught them the restoration. It was interesting to hear how their church was formed. But after that we went to some scheduled apt and they fell through and it sucked. But my comp and I still were up beat and had good attitudes and we started knocking doors and were acting all excited as we were teaching people and it totally makes a difference on the energy. I told some people that if this wasn't true I would defiantly not be here in the poring rain learning a new language that I can barley speak and understand. But we got into 3 houses and found some new investigators. I know that the Lord blesses us when we work hard and especially when we don't want to.

We had this lesson with this manos activo the other day and he had been in an accident before he got baptized and it is hard for him now to talk fast and do the same things he did before and he said how nobody understands how he feels and why did this happen to him. I felt impressed to tell him about my parents and how we don't always know why things happen but that God has a plan for us and we don't always understand why but it´s to help us grow in this life. It felt so good to kinda relate with him and just speak from the heart. We were sitting in another lesson with an investigator and I was able to say some things and truly mean it as I would in English and it was a great feeling to feel the spirit so strong. Well everybody I gotta go but I hope everybody has a good week and I hope to hear from you all in email or snail mail.

Love Elder Nichols

January 25, 2010

So wow this week flew by but it was tough and long and hot. Its been pretty rough here in Dichato. This other experience we had this week that I don’t think I will ever forget. So we had this appt with this man who we had kinda talked with a little the past couple days and he wanted to know who Joseph Smith was and what the purpose of life is. So he first asked us when Joseph Smith was born and basically a bio on him. But we were teaching him and tell him about the story of Joseph Smith and in the middle of the first vision as my comp was saying it he interrupted him and said are you reading it from a computer? And then he said no it´s in his words and then he finished it. Then right after he said, why didn’t this happen in Africa or why didn’t this happen somewhere else, why the USA? And then we said we don’t know and he just kept saying all these remarks that were so hard to hear and the conversation just was escalating and he was saying how we can't really know that this happened and we can't really know which church is true and that there not all the same. My comp started to bear his testimony and the guy denied his testimony, and at that point I had so much fire burning inside and passion for this mans soul and we had brought up the Book of Mormon earlier and so I started to bear my testimony with everything that I had inside of me and every fiber of my being and I started to kinda cry a little and I wasn’t even thinking about what I was saying in Spanish and I don’t think it mattered if it was correct of not. But the spirit was so strong and he then after I finished he asked me if I was mad and I think he took my passion and pure joy I was feeling and thought it was anger. But as I was bearing my testimony to him and talking about Joseph Smith I truly know with everything in my soul that he was a prophet of God and before that point I always knew it but with not much of a conviction. That night I could feel the truth running through my whole body. I know this gospel is true and I love sharing this gospel of truth with everyone that will listen and even though that man didn’t want to accept it and choose not to ask God if what we were telling him was true then that is his choice and he can take that one up with God.


So yeah kinda intense but people here just don’t fully understand that they need to ask God and it´s hard and that people aren’t progressing like they should. These past 6 weeks my comp and I have been working our butts off and haven’t seen much success. But I know that the Lord with bless us for our hard work. But I have been here for almost 4 months and only seen one baptism and that girl doesn’t come to church much who we did baptize, so it’s been hard but I know there is light around the tunnel, it’s just getting through the dark tunnel that is the hard part.

Well everybody I love you all so much and thanks for all the emails they were great. Thanks for all your prayers and concerns. Hope everyone has a great week.

Love Elder Nichols
Ps so we just met some people from Canada here that was cool and they spoke English.

January 18, 2010

Hi everyone, how’s life?
Well another week passed by and things just fly by here. This month is almost over and it feels like it just started. So I heard about the stuff in Haiti that happened and that’s just horrible. It´s really made people here in Dichato realize they aren’t as poor as they think. Because Dichato is a really poor town and everybody works.
So this past week I went on a mini combio and went to Tome the next city over it was fun. A doctor there who is way cool and is a member and who always makes the missionary’s food and has come over to our house and made food before he was looking at my feet because my ankle was bothering me and he said my toe nails were all messed up and so he clipped them, so now they will grow correctly because before they curled around the toe and now they are better. Also that same guy his name is Domingo bought some spray for our house that will kill all the flees forever so I won’t have any more problems with that and I know it sounds really funny to have flees but it´s no joke they itch just ask Darren.
Domingo came over on Saturday and made my comp and I pizza it was SO GOOD. He triple layered it, it was way good. Um let’s see what else happened here well not much. Oh I remember my comp and I got taught how to make sopipia. It´s this fried bread it so good; I can’t wait to make it for all of you when I get back you will love it.

So having to do with missionary work for the week it seemed like everything we planned fell through but we were knocking doors on Monday I think it was, and this lady opened the door and the woman was listing to us for a minute and then she said I have my religion, and I was already baptized. So then we asked her in what church and she said catholic and then we started to talk with her about how Jesus Christ was baptized and we had a picture of it and we asked her if she thought it would be important to follow his example and get baptized by immersion and with the correct authority. She said yeah and we asked her when you’re a baby do you understand sin and do you understand the promises you are making with God? She said no and then we said well do you think your baptism was valid? She said no, but then she says I have my religion. And then somehow we got to the apostasy and talked about that and how we have a prophet on the earth today and to lead and guide us. It was cool though because this whole conversation was very calm and chill and I was saying things that I had never really said before, as in, thoughts that were coming into my head with things to say. This woman understood everything perfectly what we were saying. I bore my testimony to her about prayer and how she can know for herself if it´s true. The spirit was so strong and we were teaching with so much authority it was cool. I asked her if she knew with all her heart that and she prayed and asked God if her church was true and if it was the same church that Jesus Christ established on the earth when he was here. And she said again I have my religion.
Then my comp said if you know that you’re denying two servants of God and Christ's church with 12 apostles and a prophet and if you know that, we will leave and she said yes. So we left but that truly hurt so badly and it was a real testimony of agency and how sometimes in life you do all that you can do and in the end it´s up to the person to make the choice for themselves. In this case even though they may had felt the Holy Ghost testify to them the truth they still rejected it. But my comp said that my Spanish was way good there and I was conjugating verbs and it was good.
Also I gave a another talk in church this past Sunday and that was fun well not so much, but the worst part was when I was reading my scriptures I had but other than that it was good. Well family and whoever else I gotta go but I hope all is well with everyone and hope to hear from you, take care.
Love Elder Nichols

January 11, 2010

Hey everyone

I hope everyone is doing well. It’s amazing how much a new comp and a good attitude can help things. It truly does make the difference with everything but even in life and in general. We can choose to have a bad day and let things get to us and just be mad over something we can’t control. I have truly learned that it’s not worth letting little things or even people ruin the next couple hours or even the whole day. For example last Saturday morning my comp and I went out and did contacts by this farmers market type thing where people sell produce and whatever else and we were trying to give away cards with a number on it where they would get a free video called the "Lamb of God". And by the way it was pretty warm out, but people were just plain rude and we just asked if we could say hi to them and give them a gift and they were just straight rude.
For example this older man walked by and I said hey can we say hi to you and as he was walking by he said ¨porque´´ which means *why* and he said it in a really low voice and kept walking. So at that point I had kinda had it with people so as he was walking away I said because we have a really important message for you. Then he stopped and turned around and stared at me for a few seconds with a really mad face and I was just starring back. That all that happened, I said it in a really nice voice but some people just have hard hearts.
Also a few days before that we knocked on a few doors and talked to a couple ladies and they just did not understand that there is only way to know if what we are teaching is true is by asking God. It truly hurts inside when your teaching someone at their door and they just keep going around everything you say and your questions and they just don’t have all the truth they have parts but not all of it. I used an example the other day because people always think that dios is uno solo with God is the only one we need. That it doesn’t matter what church you belong to because we will all end up to the same place anyways. But that’s WRONG.
So I said ok you have 3 buses and they all want to go to Concepcion and they all started different places and they all get maps on how to get there but only one of the maps is correct and only one of the buses will get you to Concepcion even though all of them are trying to get there. Its the same thing all the churches are trying to get to God but all of them have the wrong maps and no authority. Sorry I am going off on this it has just been something that bothers me a lot here. And we always tell people that we don’t want you to believe us we want them to ask God.


But we are pretty close to getting this women and her daughter and they have dates to get baptized for the 2 of February and they just need to ask God. Also this lady Cesia who we taught her a mix of the lessons but it was really powerful lesson she has a date set for the 2nd and she is evangelical but she is willing to ask God and see if what we are teaching is true. Also this past Sunday this woman came in with this less active member and we had taught this lady her name is Maria and the lesson we taught her was great and felt like things could go well with her. But when we taught her was like the 3rd week I was here and after that she was always in the hospital for depression. But when she walked in on Sunday it was awesome so we got an appt with her for Wednesday.

Right now we are trying to help the ward and regain the trust in this branch and just do a bunch of service for all the less actives and see if that will help anything. We found a family of 3 last night 3 girls one is like 17 and all she does is sleep all day so she has no excuse to not come to church and my new comp is a good looking guy so maybe she might come now haha. But that is our big focus right now is reactivating people but still inviting people to baptism.
I am doing pretty good as for me and just keep plugging away at the Spanish. I have started to read the book of Mormon out loud in Spanish so I hope that helps. Well not much else to say but I did eat lengua de baca which is cow tongue. It wasn’t too bad actually a little chewy but not to bad. Well everybody I gotta go but take care and I hope to hear from you next week.

Love Elder Nichols

Part 2 January 4, 2010

Hey everybody again,

So I didn’t get to finish about the week. So I forgot to say that I ate liver!!!!! It was interesting it wasn’t to bad actually just kind of chewy but not a bad taste. I also ate this really good kind of fish that was pretty good. But anyways this week was fast Sunday and my comp and I had a huge fast for people here and I fasted for my Spanish to be able to speak better, and it was nuts because on Sunday after sacrament meeting we talked with our branch president about how we can help the ward become active and what the town of Dichato needs and I was able to explain what I wanted to say and our president understood clearly and he told me that. And it was just really cool. My new comp elder Findley is helping me a lot with stuff. He has a positive attitude about things here even though they are really tough here considering we had 18 people at church. If you could all pray for this guy Juan and this girl Kathy she is a 15 year old girl who wants to get baptized but her parents won’t let her and her grandma is way evangelical and its really hard for her to have faith that miracles are possible with faith in Christ.


I have FLEES and they SUCK well actually they itch like crazy and they are all over my body but I am going to get some stuff to help that so we will see how that goes. I got to go, but I love you all. Hope you all have a great week.

Love Elder Nichols

January 4, 2010

Hey everyone!!!


So I got a new comp!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It´s amazing, he is pretty cool. And guess where he is from? Washington he is from the Seattle area. He has only been in the mission like 6 months but his spanish is pretty good I'm sending pictures as I am writing this email so I'm going to explain a couple the first one is this really cool lady she is a new convert , not mine but they were making empanadas and they were pretty good. The first pic is just of a road in Dichato and some houses and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th are of me. But anyways this week we worked pretty hard because the sector is basically dead because my last comp had no faith. But the first morning we go into a house taught this pretty cool girl. Then got into a couple other houses that day so it was way good. New Years Eve was hard but we got some really good food that night it was way good. Everyone knows the primary song with the pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked. But only it was walked and knocked on doors and nobody was home. So that was really was lame and our legs were dead. I slept really good that night. But yeah the next day was basically the same we had appointments with everybody and they all fell through, so we knocked doors at the end of the night and this is what happened on the last door we knocked on this and this lady answered it and at first she was like, I don't want anything to do with you, but we started talking with her and teaching her on her door step and we were teaching with so much power and authority it was really cool and she couldn't deny anything we were saying. We told her that we take the sacrament every week and she only takes it once a year and so I said do you wash your clothes once a year or once a week!!! BAM haha but yeah it was cool we pulled out another appt with her for this week but it was good.

Love Elder Nichols

December 28, 2009

Hey everybody

I hope everybody had a good Christmas. Sorry for those that I did not get to talk to you very long I am really sorry and felt really bad about that and was really sad. But for those of you who didn't talk to me I had a good Christmas except that I got tons of flee bites Christmas eve. The big thing here is Christmas Eve they call it the bueno noche and so we went to a members house in the next town over and ate some really good chicken and it was good. We stayed the night with some other elders in their apartment. Then we came back and I opened my packages and was supper excited with what I got. The lemon pepper was amazing. But yeah then went and ate lunch and went to the church and called home and it was kinda a mess but it all worked out I guess. Then we went over to this way cool family who are eternal investigators and they fed us dinner it was pretty good. Then went over to this other family's house who are not members, we teach and they gave me some really good fish but I wasn't hungry at all, but I ate it anyways. It was a pretty fun day not a whole lot of work got done on those days.

So I am getting a new comp I am pretty excited because I need a new change and a new attitude in Dichato. His name is elder Findley he is from Washington, (hey so am I ) but from the other side of the state, transfers are tomorrow I heard he is supper chill and really cool so that will be a good change to have because elder Crenshaw is supper supper extrovert, so I am excited to see what goes down. So I know everybody wanted pictures but next week I promise I will send pictures of lots of stuff. Lets see here we have a couple new investigators one guy who doesnt have any legs and his son, and this other lady whose mom was a member and she died like 8 years ago and she said it was really hard for her to get over her death but had a dream about her about how she saw her in a perfected sate and saw her in a white tunic like when she was baptized and so we told her to pray about what we taught her it and if it was true, and she said she already knew it was true but we challenged her to baptism and she accepted. So we will see what happens.

Well everyone not much else to say but I love you all so much and enjoyed talking to you all of those that I did. Tell everyone hi from me and give the a hug.

LOVE Elder Nichols

December 21, 2009

Hey everybody feliz navidad

So I helped yesterday set up a fake Christmas tree at our branch presidents house that kinda helped it feel a little more like Christmas but still lacking the Christmas spirit. But I hope everyone got a good laugh about the fruit cake haha. But this past week was pretty warm I got a nice little tan going so it´s pretty sweet and my face is so clear and has like no acne and I love it. Today we had a zone activity and we had a white elephant gift exchange and that was fun I got a cool beanie for my head I think I spelt that wrong but yeah and then we played some dodge ball and then ate this stuff called chorianna you first put a bunch of french fries on the plate then a bunch of meat and then a fried egg it´s so freaking good. This guy in one of the wards made it all for like 20 missionaries he is an amazing cook.
I will find out on the 27th if I get a new comp or not I think I will because he has been there for 6 months so we will see. This past week I went on a mini cambio with an elder from Ogden who live pretty close to Traci he lives on glassman in south Ogden. It was so much fun I loved it. But I don't have any time to share any cool stories today because running short on time because of our activity but I cant wait to talk to everyone on Friday, Kelli and Traci i gave Darren the details about what is going down for the phone call. But I love you all and hope all is well with everyone.
Love Elder Nichols