One Month Mark!

We got another email! With pictures!

It's crazy to think she's already been gone for a month now. :) 

We're so glad she seems to be having so much fun!

"Hey everyone! 

      This week has been a great week! We saw lots of miracles! First off, I reached my one month mark! That's CRAZY!!! It's insane to see how much happens in one month! Oh how blessed I am to be a missionary at this time! 

     This week we got to participate in 2 service projects! The first, we got to rake our new investigators yard! So many young men came to help, it was so awesome! We're so grateful for all the participants who have reached out to this family! They were so grateful! The second one, we got to help Holly (Mario's, our investigator, wife) make cute ornaments for a service thing she was doing! It was so much fun because I'm not creative, but they all turned out cute! I love being able to serve others! It brings a joy that only comes from being selfless and turning outward! 

      Speaking of Mario, he's doing pretty well! His prayers are so sincere and personal and you can tell he's talking to his Father in Heaven! I want to pray more like him and make my prayers more meaningful! I think I was called to serve a mission, not to teach others, but so I could be taught by others! I'm so humbled by everyone we teach! I walk into every house and think of how blessed I am. It's the little things that we take for granted that are truly great blessings from God. I am so humbled by the people here and what they go through! Oh how I wish I could help them all with everything. I know I can't, but that Christ can, and I can help them see that. 

    We got 3 new investigators this week and I am so pumped!!! They seem willing and open to hear our message that will greatly bless their lives! I hope they are receptive to our message! We just had an investigator drop us after 1 lesson. It was awful! Sister Rogers and I felt like we just got dumped:( We really liked Barb and thought she was a golden investigator. It's so sad to see how hard the adversary works on people as they learn the gospel. We felt really bad about it, but know that God has people prepared for us that will accept the gospel! We can't wait to find them! 

     As much fun as this week was, I was fighting a cold all week -_- I felt awful every morning and every night when we got home. I think it's no coincidence that my cold was the worst before going out, then after the day, yet during the day as we went out to serve, I almost completely forgot about it. It would subside so much and I wasn't too bothered by it. The Lord really does bless us as we do His will and help the progression of His work! He took care of me and I'm so grateful for His hand in this work! I know He's guiding us and is preparing a way for us to do this work, even if I have a cold. 

    Yesterday I went on a mini exchange with Sister Huang! We went to ward council in her ward and this sister gave the spiritual thought. She said "if you're not happy enough, you're not grateful enough". I loved that because it's so true! God has given us SOOOOO many blessings, and many of them we take for granted. It's not until we meet people who are worse off than we are that we realize just how blessed we are. When we humble ourselves, and appreciate all that we have, despite all that we might not have, we are so much happier! I thought I would share that with everyone since Thanksgiving is coming up! I hope everyone has a wonderful week and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! I love ya'll and pray for you everyday! 

Love, 

Sister Wilson(:"

Another Great Week in Spokane!

We got another fun email home, and a few pictures! We got the email

a day late due to Zone Conference on Monday, so we were really

excited when we got this email. Sounds like she's having a blast!

Hey Everyone!!!!! 

         This week was pretty good! We got to talk to a lot of people and they're all so awesome! The people here are so cool and nice and I just really love them all! It's really cold up here though, and lots of people think it's funny that I'm from Texas and freezing my butt off. We went shopping the other day for winter clothes and such, and I was like, "I don't know how to wear that...I'm from Texas and never had to before..." They think it's funny that I don't know how to properly dress for Washington weather..haha, but they've been a huge help!! 

        Washington is really funny because there are a lot of deer that run around randomly. It's funny to drive by and see a family of deer chilling in someone's front yard. BUT, it's not as funny as seeing a MOOSE chilling in someone's front yard! We were driving to a less active's house and we stopped to make sure we had the right address. I busted out laughing and Sister Rogers gave me this really funny look. Then she saw what I saw....a MOOSE in someone's yard eating from their trees!!! It was really funny because you don't see that in Texas!(: 

So these are just a few pictures, but I'll take and send more next time! Sister Rogers is beautiful, inside and out, and is from Lindon Utah. The dog we're holding is Tini (short for Martini...haha). She is Sister Sachse's dog and is so fun to live with! We took her for a walk and dressed her up. Doesn't she look so cute?! The sunsets (at 4:00 -_-) are BEAUTIFUL behind all the trees and mountains!!! 

        My district and zone is so awesome! I love all the sisters and elders I get to serve with! They're all so supporting and encouraging of one another! I know that God has purposely put me with this group of missionaries and I'm so thankful for that!

        So a really cool thing happened this week. As you'll see in some of the photos, I'm holding a lizard....for those of you who know me, I HATE lizards! They just creep me out. I can look at them but if it gets near me, I freak...not as badly as Syd though(: Anyways, our investigator, Mario, has a pet lizard. Mario is progressing well and the cool thing is, his brother, JJ, has been sitting in on the past few lessons we've taught! Supposedly, Sister Rogers has been trying to get him to sit in for a long time so this is real progress!! Anyways, we had dinner with them Thursday night and Sister Rogers wanted to see the lizard and so they brought him out. They got me to touch it and I thought I was going to die. Sister Rogers wanted to hold the lizard and JJ wanted to see me hold the lizard. I told him NO WAY! He insisted so I thought I would make a deal with him! Sister Rogers and I were going to take Mario and his wife on a church tour Friday night and then to a chili cook off the ward was putting on. JJ said if I held the lizard he would join us. So....... I DID!!! I'm trying not to spazz out in the picture, but it started crawling on me and I thought I was going to die!! It was cool though because JJ came on the tour with us. We got to teach about the gospel and share our testimonies with him. We just know he felt the spirit and it was a neat experience! Then we all had yummy chili and CORNBREAD afterwards(: 

We got a new investigator this week! He's 15 and his name is Zach! He wants to be baptized and be "a member of God" as he puts it! I'm so excited to start teaching him and help this desire in him grow!!!!!! I love seeing how happy the gospel makes people and it's been a true blessing to be here, despite the challenges! I have been very humbled by the things I've seen, heard and experienced! I'm so grateful for God's love for me and the people I teach. I love feeling the love that God has for His children! It's such a special, and sacred feeling to me! I know this church is true and I've been so blessed to be able to help people get to church! Stay strong and remember who you are! God loves you all! I love you all! 

    Oh...please send me pictures through email and mail so I can hang them up on my wall! I love and miss ya'll lots! Thanks for my package and letters...I LOVE letters! I'm keeping ya'll in my prayers! 

Love, 

Sister Wilson(:

First Week in Spokane

We got another lovely email home yesterday from Nicole. She seems to really like her first companion in the mission field in Spokane, and is enjoying Spokane. She also gave us her new address!

"Hey everyone!! 

So these photos are really all from the MTC and with my district(: I'll get more from Spokane next week!

So, Spokane is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!! It is breath taking with all the different colors up here! We arrived here Monday and I fell in love with the scenery so quickly! This week has been very bittersweet! I LOVED my district from the MTC and it was so hard to have to tell them goodbye! They've strengthened me way more than I thought possible! BUT, my companion now, Sister Rogers, is such a blessing! She has helped me feel welcomed, and loved, and important! Her testimony of the gospel is so strong and it strengthens mine. So, I arrived Monday, as I already said, and we spent the whole day with our district and mission president. We had some very awesome members willing to open up their home to allow our sisters to stay the night. Tuesday, we met our companion, had some training, got our bikes and package, said a tearful goodbye to our district, and headed off!

We live at a member's house. Her name is Sister Sachse (pronounced Saxy). She's a single woman with a dog and cat. They're really cute and sweet and friendly! Sister Sachse is so sweet too! I just love her dearly! 

Tuesday night I got to meet my first investigator! His name is Mario and he comes from a Part Member Family (PMF). His wife is a member. He is AWESOME! He had a drinking problem and a chewing tobacco problem, but he has desires to overcome them and has been progressing! He's learning to rely on God for the strength he needs. I love seeing how the Atonement can strengthen us. I've relied on the enabling power of the Atonement all week! As I struggled with this change, I've turned to my Father in Heaven through long, sincere, sometimes desperate prayers. The comfort that comes through prayer is indescribable! I'm so grateful that our Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers! Through prayer and the power of the Atonement, I've made it through this week and have started this new week off fresh!

We have another investigator, named Rachael, also from a PMF. She struggles with smoking...a lot of people here smoke. She has a desire to overcome it too. She's just scared of the withdrawals because she becomes really mean and angry as side effects. Again, we've taught her that through the Atonement, she can and will be able to overcome! She's set a baptism date for herself!!! January 31....we're trying to get that date closer, because we know with her desire, she can quit smoking earlier! I'm so grateful to be able to see how the gospel helps people change for the better! 

The ward up here is so awesome! Everyone is so nice, warm, loving, friendly, and welcoming! I miss 7th ward though, but this is a great temporary replacement! 

Soooo...Spokane is really weird! The sun sets at 4:30, and by 5 pm it looks like midnight! It's CRAZY! We don't ride our bikes either. We live on a hill, so bike riding would be dangerous where we live. But, we do have a car that's shared with some elders. When we don't have a car, we have to rely on members for ride. They're always so willing to help! It's suppose to get really cold this week. I'm pretty sure it's not suppose to get above 30 degrees the next couple of days and it's suppose to snow this weekend!!! I'm definitely going shopping today! 

My mailing address is (for anyone who wants to write me letters:): 

Sister Nicole Andrea Wilson

4607 E 16th Ave

Spokane Valley, WA 99212-0261

I love ya'll so much and appreciate everything you do!! Hope everyone has a fantastic week! 

Love,

Sister Wilson"

Here are some fun pictures of Nicole at the MTC:

Here are some pictures of Nicole and her time in Spokane so far: