Mi Querido Familia y Amigos,
How is everyone? I was SO excited to see emails from my parents, Uncle Vaughn, and my cousin Jeanine (sorry if i spelled that wrong), as well as glad to see updates from the missions of my friends. I'm still wondering how Elder Bredeson is doing. Also, if any of my family, or close friends from La mesa, is able to spare a few minutes it would mean the world to me to hear some good faith building stories from your individual missions. Also, I need addresses so that I can snail mail people individually. I really do love to write letters, its just that our preparation days here have been packed for us with the Temple and other things. I will have a lot more time to write letters in the field. It's okay to email me, I just have to write back on paper, however hand written letters have a nice touch :) I sent letters to my parents, Garret, Simon, Trepaniers, Morgans, and Mike Neal so far. I love you guys and hope you got them. I'm in the process of writing more.
This week was pretty intense. We got to go out on splits with the missionaries in the field. We went once last friday, and once yesterday (wednesday) for about 4 hours each time. I was paired up with my first companion from Provo, Elder Williamson, and our trainer Elder Hatch. Elder Hatch is such a great guy, and he radiates the spirit. I hope that I get to work with him in the field. The first time our appointments all fell through, and so we spent the entire time making more contacts, meeting people, setting up new appointments and such. The second time we went with the same people, and our appointments fell through again. So we decided to do more contacts. One lady rudely told us to go away and that she didn't believe in "that stuff". Our trainer was shocked. He said that was the first time that's happened, and he has been out 14 months. Nobody here is atheist, and everyone loves to talk about their beliefs. But nevertheless we valiantly continued onward (this time Elder Hatch was making us start conversations and do the contacting while he supervised, and it was little more than "hello, this is who we are") and kept knocking doors. We ended up meeting a lady named Celeste, who was interested in talking to us. She pulled some chairs out of her apartment, and we had a short discussion right there in the middle of the street, with cars and motorcycles riding right past us! It was nuts! At one point as I was trying to follow the conversation (remember that this is only our second time in the field, and we were relying heavily on our trainer. The university had lots of students who knew english so it was easier) and Elder Hatch just looks at me and says "Talk about God". After I had recovered from shell shock I was able to put a few sentences together about how God is literally the father of our spirits, and because of his love for us has restored the the same church that Christ built when he was on the Earth. I was scared to death, and afterward Celeste looked at Elder Hatch and I could tell she was complaining about my spanish, but he stood up for me and talked about how he could feel the sincerity and power of what I said. We also attracted some more people, named Eva and Miguel. They got our information and showed us where they live (literally had to walk down a long dark alley behind some shacks) and then we moved on.
This next story is where it gets awesome. We were walking down the street and saw 3 women sitting on their porch with a few kids, just enjoying the day. We stopped to talk to them and found out that one of them had visited with missionaries before and found out what she knew.
Let me just take a second to explain something. My spanish is very limited. I can understand a lot more when I read, but when people are talking faster than I'm even able to think in English, and they are dropping letters and mumbling, my tiny vocabulary is near useless. But as I looked into her eyes as she spoke, and tried my best to piece it together, the Spirit helped me. Not only did He remind me the meanings of some words I had studied, but He filled in the gaps. Even though I didn't recognize the words, He placed concepts, feelings, and ideas in my mind that helped me understand the conversation between her and Elder Hatch. It was absolutely incredible.
But with that knowledge and understanding also came the responsibility to testify. As thoughts came to my mind I had this feeling inside of me that just kept swelling and growing inside me. As it grew it pushed out all the fear I had about speaking, and motivated me to act. Soon enough the Lord provided a a pause in which I could speak.
I said ¨Hermana, no sé mucho español, pero yo siento que necesito decir algo a usted. No soy Mormón porque mis padres son Mormones. Soy Mormón porque yo tengo mi propio testimonio del Libro de Mormón. Yo sé que el es verdadero. Cuando lo leo, siempre siento sentimientos de paz y amor. He orado sobre la mensaje que el contiene y he recibido una respuesta. Por eso, yo sé que José Smith fue un profeta. Le prometo, si leerá el Libro de Mormón, y orará con intenta real, y si quiere saber verdaderamente, el Señor le contestará.¨
As I said this, everyone was dead silent. Even her friends that were Evangelicals. Even my trainer. I don't even remember hearing cars or motorcycles or pedestrians. I looked her square in the eye and testified to her of what I know to be true. I wasn't trying to convince her or force her. I testified, I invited, and I promised her a result.
I love being here. I am so blessed to have this oppurtunity. I am so excited to break out of this training center and spread the good news of the Gospel to those that are truly searching and willing to come unto Christ. I love you all very much, thank you for your prayers, letters, and support. Until next week, Go forward in faith.
Con mucho amor,
Elder Nichols
