June 14, 2010

Hola bueno tardes


Hey guys hows it going? SO here are some pictures from today from the RAIN. It has been raining here for the past 24 hours straight it has been nuts. It rains so freaking hard here. It was like a river in the streets and I was walking in running shoes. I need to buy some rain boots or something cuz I was soaked when we went outside. We played soccer today as a district it was so much fun a couple of the sisters were pretty good it was funny. I had a good time. Then we went to this pizza place called Alo pizza it was pretty good. Today was transfers and my comp is going!!!! He had been here for 7 months and it is time for him to go. But I am excited to get a new comp. O the other pictures is some zone activity that we went on and there was this cool lake that was there I hope you guys like the pictures cuz I did. Hey uncle rod if you want to touch up the pics be my guest you could probably make them really cool.

So this week was pretty good, kinda frustrating at times and I wish I could take away some peoples agency sometimes, but I can´t. We found some really good people the last weeks email about how crappy the day was actually turned out pretty good because an appt that we had for a week in advance they all ended up being there for it and it´s this woman and her two kids and her brother who told us he read the entire Book of Mormon like a few years ago but lost it and really liked it. They all understood baptism perfectly and they all have dates for the 11th. The moms friend was baptized and she thought the baptism was so beautiful and she loved the movie about the restoration that they watched at her friends baptism. I really hope all goes well with this family.

Well I gotta go but hope all is well with everybody and feel free to write me if you want or have any questions.

Love Elder Nichols

June 7, 2010

Test of Faith

Hola todos,

Wow this week flew by, crazy how time flies when your having fun. So the weather here has gotten pretty cold and it rains like once every week which isn't to bad but it will rain a lot more in the coming months. It´s so cold in the morning I don't want to get out of bed and do my exercises but the food here is so unhealthy they use so much oil it´s crazy so I have been getting better with my exercises. Speaking of food I ate boiled chicken the other day and people need to know that chicken should not be boiled ever its not good. O well it´s not the end of the world but some people think it will be in 2012 which is really funny when people ask us if the world is going to end and sometimes we say yes just to be funny, but we all know I hope that the world is not going to end.

I am doing good, feeling good, just trying to find the prepared people here. But some days it is harder than others and some days the Lord wants to test our faith and see really how bad we want it. So my comp is district leader and he went to another sector to do an interview for the day on Friday so I was with an elder from Peru again and we had a pretty full day planned and had some really good appt. set so I was excited. So we set off for our first at 330 and nobody was there so we went and did contacts on our way to the second appt and we got into this old guys house but we didn't technically get into his house because he pulled out two chairs from inside and said he wanted to look at the girls as they passed by, so that was pretty funny. After that we went to our next appt and she wasn't there so we did contacts and just taught people in their door ways like two people but none of them seemed that interested. So at this time it was about 6:30 and we went to where our next appt was, in the area and did contacts and talked to a lady in her door way whose husband abuses her and that was really sad. Then we went to this appt we had and it was this family that we had taught once and they couldn't, and after that I wanted to cry. It was about 8:00 pm and at that time we were 45 min away from our next appt if we were to walk so we took a taxi and this appt never fails so I was excited. We had a member with us so i was excited about that but we went to the house and their daughter was sick. So we had a back up plan and that failed and I was pretty tired it was about 9:20 at that point. We kept contacting houses nobody answered. My comp and the member stopped and thought who they could visit and I just kept walking and I saw this lady sitting on the side of her house smoking a cigarette. So I went over and started taking to her and she told us she was just thinking about her life and needed some strength and told us she had been praying. We taught her lesson 3 about baptism and she was golden and I know that God was testing my faith. We have an appt with her tonight so am way excited about that. Well i gotta go but Hope all is well with everyone.

Love Garrett

May 31, 2010

Hey everybody hows it going? Sorry for no emails last week it was a rough monday and a lot of stuff hit me all at once so I really wasn't feeling up to writing anything. But anyways here I am and this week was pretty good. I had a some cool experiences that were great.

People are very different in this world and at times it´s hard to see them do things that you know are not the brightest or people are just really stubborn and afraid to step out close to the edge to look down, because if they look down they might fall, but if they look down maybe will be able to see how to get down and get on the path that they need to be on. But they wont even try to come to the edge because they are afraid, and they like being where it´s safe being in ignorance and not being able to see if they can make it down. And to all those of you who don't get what I'm saying then read it again because I think this can apply to everyone.

So this week we were walking to find a reference to a house that the sisters gave us and we went to the street and the house didn't exist, so I said well lets start knocking doors which we do a lot, and the first door we knocked a guy came out and we told him who we were and we share about Jesus Christ and he let us come in and the lady that was in the kitchen had this look on her face of "oh no what did you just do". So she came over and we started the lesson about baptism, lesson 3, the gospel of Jesus Christ. They were both religious or they were both baptized as babies (they were Catholic) but we taught them about how Jesus Christ was baptized and teaching them about prayer and how they can know if this is true and the spirit was really strong. The demminer of the womans face and in here eyes just changed completely I know they felt something because I could feel it also. They are not married so we will work with that but they both have dated to get baptized for next month but we will see what happens. I love sharing this gospel.

Also we found this lady and her mom on friday and the mom was pretty against it because she was stuck on the whole all religions are good and they all lead to the same place even if they aren't following the example of Jesus Christ. But anyways the daughter is like 24 or and was really quiet but listened really intently. Long story short we told her to pray about if it´s true and we came back and she did and that never happens with people the first time. But she did and we taught her the restoration and she felt really calm about it and felt peaceful. We have another appt with her this thursday and I am really excited her name is natalie and she has a date for 27 of next month.

Well I gotta go but I love you all and hope everyone is good.

Love Elder Nichols

May 17, 2010

Hey everybody!!!!!

SO this week was pretty good we found a lot of good people and I was really excited about that. We found a really cool girl who wanted to ask God if her baptism was valid when she was a baby and that if she needs to get baptized again. The spirit was so strong in this lesson and it´s really cool when you talk in spanish and the words just kinda come out and you don't have to think about what your saying and you can express your heart about the gospel and bear your testimony. We have an appointment with her tomorrow so that was really cool experience. Also when I was on a mini cambio with another elder from Peru he came to my sector and I was scared because my sector is huge and I don't know it that well but I had a map so I was ok but still a little lost. But the end of the night we had this lesson with this family and the two daughters are members and the parents aren't, and they aren't married so that's the situation. We taught them baptism the last time but the dad wasn't there but this time he was and it was just those 4. So we taught the Restoration and how the church was restored on the earth and such. Now we were teaching this lesson and as we finished the dad said how he had had a really bad day and how he felt much better after listing to us he had just lost his brother and he was feeling kinda down and he said how we are instruments in Gods hands that were sent here. And before that I had talked about praying and asking God and such to receive an answer. They said they wouldn't because they didn't want to be obligated to a church and such. Then I said it´s not to a church it´s to God. But I told him that I cold relate with him how he feels and about eternal families and about a baptism. Then my comp stared talking and it just hurt me that they wouldn't pray and ask God and the mom asked me if I was ok, and from there I was really bold in a really loving way, and gave them my heart and expressed everything I had to them and how I know this is true with everything I have, and I want that happiness for them also and the spirit was so strong. It just hurt me inside, just straight up pain that they were to stubborn not to ask God.

Now after having that experience I think about how Jesus felt when people rejected him face to face. But Hey everybody has there agency and sometimes it really hurts because I know they felt the truth of this message.

Love Elder Nichols

May 10, 2010

Hey everybody I am in a new area it´s called Linares and it is HUGE I am not sure how the heck I am going to ever get it down to where I know where stuff is but with the help of the Lord and lots of praying he might have mercy on me. It´s really weird changing sectors because you dont know anybody or have a relationship with anyone and it´s just weird but I am in a huge branch here with like 120 people it should be a ward, but I'm not really sure why it´s not. My comp is from Oklahoma and he has like 5 months left but I am also living with a latin from Columbia and he is way tight, his name is elder Gil and he is way funny and his comp is from Idaho like 10 minutes away from Rexburg.


I don't really know what to say not much going on here just trying to find people here but we walk everywhere and to get to one part of the sector it takes almost an hour it´s nuts, but hey thats the life of a missionary. It rained here on tuesday and only like half the day and the roads were flooding and such it was nuts. In the night here it gets soooo cold it kinda sucks but it´s all good it makes it that much better when we get into a house so we can get warm haha. There is this guy in the ward who speaks english who came out to work with us and it was really weird speaking english with him he is like 6´5 he is so tall. My comp just baptized a bunch of people here so we are basically starting from scratch now but I am eager to find people. The language has gotten easier when teaching but I still don't know spanish but it has gotten better. Its fun living with a latin because we always have to speak it in the house and him and I talk all the time so´it really good. Well I don't have much else to say but hope everyone is doing good and is staying healthy or something haha. I will write more when more stuff happens. For now I gotta go FIGHT the GOOD FIGHT.

Love ELDER NICHOLS

May 3, 2010

Hola everybody

Well my time is officially up in dichato I am getting changed to a place about 3 hours east called leanaras. And I am happy and sad to leave Dichato but I and excited to see new things and to meet new people and help new people who are waiting for me.. I hear where I am going it rains a ton and that itś freezing also and itś in the country.So the other day my comp and I were hitchhiking like we do everyday to our sector and because there are not many buses that pass by but we got picked up by someone from Australia and it was way weird speaking English but cool also.

Yesterday Was as of this point the best day of my mission. I have been In Dichato for almost 7 months and had not seen much success and it has been a long tunnel to keep following. But as they always say there is light a the end of the tunnel and yesterday I was a witness of that and I finally reached that light. First the 3 kids we are teaching showed up for the first time who are related to the family that we baptized yesterday and they showed up to church obviously also. Then this other family showed up and missionary's had been teaching them for like a year and it was the dads first time coming to church. I could not believe it. In total we had 12 investigators in church and there was a total of 52 people in church. Now for those of you who don't know Dichato is a little small branch and in the past we have had 8 in church before, so 52 is AMAZING. It was fast and testimony meeting and it was so good there are some members that are progressing so much in Dichato and men are getting the priesthood and things are getting done. I bore my testimony and later on that night my comp told me when I got done a lady next to him said she could understand everything I said and I said it all correctly. I was amazed and thanked the lord for his help. But after that came the best part of the day the FAMILY BAPTISM!!!!! The dads name is Victor and the oms name is margarita and the son is Benjamen and they have a 3 year old daughter who is the cutest little thing. But anyways this was my first time baptizing somebody personally. The service was really good a guy from the stake young mens gave a talk and then I baptized the mom she asked me to do it and that made me feel good. then 2 other missionary's sang abide with me tis eve tide in spanish and english. And then our branch president gave a warm welcome and did an amazing job with that it could not had been better I teared up a little bit. Then the last song we sang was family's can be together forever and I couldn't even sing that song because the spirit was restricting me and I was crying kinda but it was tears of joy for the family and knowing that they can have that goal in the temple. Also it made me think of my own family and hope and pray that I can be with EVERYBODY in the in the celestial kingdom and at this point that cant happen and I pray for every night. But I had never been so happy in my life and just so full of joy , just like the scripture says about how great will be you joy by bringing one soul unto Christ. I love being a missionary and love sharing this message of truth and of salvation with everybody and how they can live happier in this life, there is no better calling in the world.

Love Elder Nichols

April 26, 2010

Hey everybody hows it going up there in the good ole USA? I hope it`s going good for everybody. Well not much happened this week we had interviews with the president and I am pretty sure I am finally changing areas and I really want to get a latino comp so I can finally learn spanish haha because I really need it because my spanish is horrible. At the same time it will be sad to leave and especially since things are going really good in Dichato and I think in the month of May we will have baptisims every week so that will be cool. I am so excited to baptize this family this next sunday I might cry im not kidding but we are going to buy a picture frame and put a pic of the temple in it and give it to them and tell them this is there goal in one year so they can go get sealed together. I am greatful for all that I have learned in Dichato and know that I was sent there for a purpose.

So the weather had flipped a 180 and it is freezing here, I don't like it at all and I am not looking forward to the rain at all. It rains non stop here and even the Chileans hate it, but yet they still live here haha. My comp has been sick this past week but I have stayed strong because it`s all in the head you gotta have mental thoughness haha. Well not much else, my comp and I got invited to a baptism of this kid we are teaching his mom just wanted him to get presented as they call it, but he knows that the true church has a prophet and apostles and his cousin we are teaching also and they understand that really well and it`s really cool. Well not much else happened but I gotta go but I love you all. The pictures I am sending next week are of all the kids were teaching and the little girl is from the family that we are baptizing she is so cute. Anyways love you guys.


Love Elder Nichols