No hay un título chistoso ‏ 9/24/12

Dear Family and Friends, Well this week we had interviews with president and everything is in tip top shape. I always go in really nervous and come out feeling great. President Hernandez is a man of few words but he is one of the nicest and I have a lot of faith that he is guided by the Lord. Its only the fourth time in 14 months that I have ever been able to talk to him face to face. Other than 3 or 4 quick phone calls from him, the majority of my guidance has been from the scriptures, the holy ghost, and prayer. It´s interesting how when we pray the way we are supposed to we end up aligning our will with his and know exactly what we should be doing. I have heard a lot of people say that their mission president changed their life and that they were so close. My experience with my mission president so far for me has been like going to the doctor for the regular check up. On the other hand, my elders quorum president, bishop, and stake president are the ones that did open heart surgery when I was in critical condition. I owe them a lot and am ever grateful for their firm examples of love and inspired counsel. Even though I only mention those who had priesthood keys and stewardship over me, there is still a long list of other faithful friends, family, and members of the church who have supported me at great cost. They know who they are and their reserved placed in my heart. There isn´t much more going on. We are focusing on finding as well as preparing for general conference. I am so excited you don´t even know. The words of living prophets and apostles for missionaries are like a Justin Bieber concert for a 12 year old girl. Very emotional and occasional tears. hehehe. Well I love you all and hope that you are doing missionary work. I will say it again. We as elders are called to teach people correct doctrine and help them through the repentance process. The members are called to bear their testimony and be faithful friends. The mission of the church is 3 fold. Perfect the saints. Preach the Gospel. Redeem the Dead. We cannot be perfected if we have not developed the charity necessary to reach out to our neighbors or ancestors. God loves all of his children very much, and we should not be so selfish as to be content with our own salvation. Be brave my friends. Be valient. Remember your baptismal covenant to be a witness of Christ in all times, in all things, and in all places. Be bold and without fear in spreading the restored gospel. There is no salvation without it. I promise that the Holy Ghost will guide you. I know, because he has guided me. Jesus Christ Lives. He is personally guiding His own church today. He speaks to His living prophets and apostles. The Holy Spirit has frequently testified to me that they are called of God. No man and copy, imitate, or falsify those feelings. I testify with all my heart, conviction, and honor that this church is true, before the presence of unseen angels as well as the all seeing eye of our Eternal Father, in the name of Jesus Christ. Elder Jared Christopher Nichols

Finding 9/17/12

Dear Family and Friends Well the last 3 weeks have gone by pretty fast. We are starting to spread the word about general conference and get people interested. This week in church we had 3 investigators. Elder Hubbard and I were pretty happy about that. There have been more and more people just falling right into our hands. Maybe the Lord is helping us out a bit because our area is so big. For now we are just focusing on being obedient and positive. This is the Lord´s work, and He is not a failure. Today I wrote a bunch of letters too, so keep your eyes peeled. Love, Elder nichols

I Spy... La Basilica 9/10/12

Dear Family and Friends This week I took a few pictures of the Catholic Basilica to show you what its like working under they eye of sauron. Just kidding, but my point is that its huge. Today we went to play basketball with another zone and the church had a KETTLER PING PONG TABLE!!! But the net was ripped to shreds and the paddles were locked in the library. I suppose God has a sense of humor. On a more spiritual note I have found my purpose, or at least one of them, here in Higuey. Since the last time I wrote, I was able to have quite a few long discussions with my good friend elder Allen, on the roof of our house. The mission and life in general have been kinda hard on him, he hasn´t had as much success as he deserves. We had a heart to heart and I was able to courageously bear my testimony to him. I felt the spirit so strong on that roof, and I know without a doubt the Lord sent me to comfort him. We´ve also had a lot of people contacting us. We just walk around and people get placed in our path. An 18 year old named Chani contacted us in the street and wants to be baptized. Less active members find us in the street and say they want to come back to church. Ward Missionaries find us in the street and take us to references. It is nuts. I have had more people flag me down to talk to me in one week than in my entire mission. So anyways, Elder Hubbard and I are working hard. We have broken the area up into subsections with colors so that we plan things that are close together. We made a sign up sheet for the members to leave with us and help us teach. I was thinking about that a lot this week, i mean the importance of member present lessons and the different roles we play. The missionaries are called to teach, and help the investigators through the repentance process, much like a bishop. But the members need to testify, and be a friend. The testimony of the native members of the ward has much more worth and effect than that of the missionaries. I was also thinking about the proper way to spread the gospel. I`ll give two examples and let you decide which feels right. 1. Hey I was talking to the missionaries of my church the other day and they gave me this pamphlet and told me to give it to someone. So I thought about you and that maybe you would be interested. Would you read it and come to church with me? 2. My friend, we have known each other for awhile now and you are really important to me. I trust you and think of you as family. There is something in my life that gives me a lot of happiness, and peace, especially in these troubled times. I just wouldn`t feel right, in fact I would feel quite selfish, if I didn`t share with my best friend the secret to my happiness. Its my church, and I would really like to invite you to sit with my family and feel the difference that I feel when I learn about the Savior Jesus Christ. People don`t care how much you know, until they know how much you care. I love you all. I`m not perfect, and am very very aware of my need for the savior. But I love all of my friends like family, down to the very fiber of my soul. I hope those that know me can see past my imperfections and see the love that I have for them, how quickly I would forgive and forget, and that I would do anything for them if they just asked. Cuídense Elder Nichols

I Spy... La Basilica. 9/10/12

Higuey 9/3/12

Dear Family and Friends, Well.... I´m in Higuey. It was a 3 hour bus ride to get out here. Its a huge area, especially compared to my last area. We get mail once a transfer hahaha. There are parts of it that are extremely rich as well. Like nicer houses than i have ever seen in the states. There is a huge catholic basilica here too that towers over all the other buildings. Sometimes I feel like my companion and I are Frodo and Sam, and the basilica is that tower with the eye of Sauron. hehehehe.... Anyways, I live with 3 other elders. Elder Hubbard, Elder Allen, and Elder Thornock. Elder Hubbard is my companion, and he is from Utah. He has 9 months in the mission, and his last companion was in my district for 3 months. I feel a little bit frustrated right now because I don´t know anyone or where they live. I can´t really make any decisions either. I just kinda follow my companion around and teach when I can. I just do my best to serve the other elders in my house by cooking, cleaning, and being an example. 2 of them have had a pretty rough mission so far, and so I think I was sent here to help them out and encourage them. It`s also been very humbling. That is really all I´ve got for now. Wish me luck. Love, Elder Nichols

Hurricane, Baptism, Transfers, and PHOTOS!!!!! 8/27/12

Dear Family and Friends, This week we had hurricane. We couldn´t leave the house for 2 days. I was extremely bored. Unfortunately the hurricane also canceled two of our baptisms. But sunday in the evening we were able to finally baptize the Sanchez Family. I have written about them a lot in my journal. They actually contacted us. Its been a long road but they are super special, and the mom is just a fireball. She is the anchor holding that family together and is so full of love. After the baptism she invited everyone over to their house and we had refreshments and talked for a while. It was a great way to integrate them into the ward. The photos are from the baptism and after party hahaha. Also a super cute little dominican kid in the ward. Last Pday we did some sightseeing. We wanted to go to some museums but they are closed on mondays. We found that out after the hour bus ride. So we walked around and found some cool stuff in the colonial zone. We didn´t buy anything though because they love to rip off tourists. Everything is like 10 times more expensive than normal. No joke. Also a photo of some barbecue chicken and mashed potatoes that I made. Not sure if i´ve already sent it, but it was delicious, and worth bragging about. As far as transfers go, I´m being relieved of leadership duty for a time. They are sending me WAY the heck out to La Romana to be companions with Elder Hunnard. I have never met him. Its about 3 hours away, and they get mail once every transfer. The super awesome thing is that I will be sharing a house with 3 other elders, including Elder Charles Drew Allen, who was in La Caleta with me. He is literally my best friend in the mission, and I know that it is an inspired call. I have felt pretty down and stressed out the last few weeks, and it seems like this is just what I need. They tell me that I still need to work really hard, and that I´ll be in the city. I´ll keep you all posted. Enjoy the photos. Love, Elder Nichols

Hurricane, Baptism, Transfers, and PHOTOS!!!!! 8/27/12

Pressing forward in faith. 8/20/12

Dear family and friends. Dad told me there are hidden blessings coming my way. i´ve been so frustrated out here with dumb people and not being able to do all the good i thought i was going to do. the mission is so different than what i thought and i am just totally worn out.this week was extremely hard. there are so many obstacles, dumb people inside and outside of the church, and i´ve been wondering if i´m wasting my time. other days i just don´t want to be here and its all i can do to roll out of bed and put a smile on. but maybe, just maybe, my call to the mission field has more to do with the people that are closer to me, such as my trainee, my district, and my parents. are family is progressing, even if some here are not.our trials make us stronger, so i will come home more resilient than ever hahaha. i know that sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven, and the miracles come after the trial of our faith. For those of us who have more faith.... God sends bigger trials. i guess i could see it as a compliment. i love you guys. its encouraging to think that i have more time in the mission than i lack. but its also scary cuz i wanted to accomplish more and time is running out. Pressing Forward in Faith, Elder Nichols

This week in the DR. 8/13/12

Dear Friends and Family, I hope all is well back in the states. Thanks to Sister Bredeson for the DearElder, and to Ryan as well. Congrats to the wave of RM`s that have completed their service, you are all an example to me. This week has been a trial of humility, patience, and endurance. I received a call saturday morning from the assistants advising me to postpone the baptism that we were going to have that day. Its ok though, in the end it will be better him, as he will have more time to come to church and prepare before actually making the covenant. Then the activity we had planned crashed and burned because there was also a stake activity for all the leaders. That was a bit frustrating, because the leaders are the only faithful members that come to activities. So we had about 4 members and 6 investigators come to the activity about 2 hours late. So it was short, but cool. Our investigator Juan Carlos is a magician, or better said, illusionist. He did some pretty cool tricks, and we are going to plan it again but jointly with the other ward that shares our building. We did have a good turn out for our english class though. It was mostly kids, but i`m not complaining. We practiced letters and numbers and then played battleship. It was great. Amidst the trials I´m doing the best I can to repent and ponder during my prayers as well as keep my head up. Not sure who said it, but a quote exists that says sometimes the only thing we can do is hold on tight and outlast the devil. I just gotta make it to the end of the month and we should be having 5 baptisms in one weekend. Elder Nichols

Out of time. 8/6/12

Dear family and friends. Its been a really rough week, but i´m alive. we are super busy and doing our best. i´m out of time because i answered some emails personally and i´m longwinded with these epistles. hahaha. i love you all. Elder Nichols