Dear Family and Friends,
Another week of fun in the sun. Things are starting to heat up again. Great. Thanks to Matt Read for the dried Tecca Sauce, I’ve been using it like a dried herb on all sorts of stuff. It’s great! Thanks to Bishop and Jason for the Christmas cards. Jason, I heard that you have to live here for 6 months first if you wanna adopt, I’m assuming that’s what those business cards were trying to tell me. Let me know if there is some sort of secret code I’m missing.
This week the four of us elders gave talks in sacrament meeting. Yours truly spoke on the importance of members helping in the work. I even mentioned how San Diego is a pilot stake for this kind of thing. It was great. The other elders spoke on covenants, doing the will of God, and the importance of the priesthood. They all tied into missionary work, and it was interesting to see how our talks complimented one another.
As for the work itself, things are a little rough. Nobody wants to come to church. They all tell us yes, but then don´t come. It´s frustrating. In brighter news, we should have at least one baptism, the grandson of a member. Also, one investigator this week not only read the entire pamphlet we left her, but also took the time to fill out the additional study questions in the back. After we picked our jaws up off the floor she asked us about the Book of Mormon. So we gave her one. We don´t normally give those out until the second or third lesson because people here don´t commit to much. We test the waters with committing them to pray about the truth of the Church, Joseph Smith, and coming to church.
Hope all else is going well. I´m still here. Letters are still worth more to me than my weight in gold.
Love Elder Nichols.
P.S. Since I normally write in English, I wanted to take a little opportunity to remind you all that I am serving in a foreign language. If there is a Google translate button, hit it now.
Mis hermanos amados, yo quiero aprovechar este momento para dar mi sentamientos y testimonio de nuestro salvador, Jesucristo. El nos ama más que nosotros podemos entender, y quiere que vengamos a Él. Nuestro Padre Celestial lo mandó a la tierra para vencer la muerte y el pecado, para que todo puedan regresar y vida eterna. Jesucristo dirige esta iglesia personalmente. Sé que Él vive. Sé que José Smith fue escogido por nuestro salvador para restaurar la autoridad, y la verdad de todos cosas. Sé esto seguramente, sin duda. Alguna persona que quiere seguir Cristo verdaderamente vendrá a este conocimiento, no creencia, por medio de oración y un estudio del Libro de Mormón, lo que José Smith tradujo por el poder de Dios. Nadie puede quitar este conocimiento, porque es escrito en mi alma, y quema dentro mi corazón. Tengo seguridad para eternidad, y testificaré en qualquier momento o lugar que Jesús es el Cristo, y esta iglesia es su reino en la tierra hoy en día. En el sagrado nombre de Jesucristo, amén.
GOOGLE TRANSLATE:
My dear brothers, I want to take this moment to give my resettlement and testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He loves us more than we can understand, and wants us to come to Him our Heavenly Father sent to earth to conquer death and sin, so that everyone can return and eternal life. Jesus Christ leads the church personally. I know He lives. I know that Joseph Smith was chosen by our Savior to restore the authority and truth of all things. I know this certainly, certainly. Someone who wants to follow Christ truly come to this knowledge, not faith, through prayer and study of the Book of Mormon, which Joseph Smith translated by the power of God. No one can take this knowledge, because it's written in my soul and my heart burns within. I have eternal security, and testify at any time or place that Jesus is the Christ and the church is his kingdom on earth today. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.
