Feed the Ghost

Here's Nicole's email that we received today!

She has some funny stories to tell. Check

them out below:

"Happy Monday!! 

    This week's letter will be short...er! Due to a lack of investigators, Sister Ashby and I did a lot of street contacting all day, every day. As a result, there's not much to report on! Nonetheless, we did see many miracles and we have had a couple of funny experiences! 

    Monday evening, we taught the Brazilian couple again. They're so cute! They were talking about going to church and how they feel at church. As they were searching for the English words to say, they described their feelings at church as such, "I like to feed the Ghost" hahahaha. After a moment of thinking about that response, Sister Ashby said, " do you mean feel the Spirit?" They immediately agreed and said that's what they meant. They continued on, though, to say they love the way they feel at church. The Spirit when you attend church and partake of the sacrament (the bread and water in remembrance of Christ's sacrifice) is undeniable. I love going to church every Sunday and getting that break from the world. How blessed I feel for that weekly opportunity! 

     Thursday we had exchanges. Sister Murphey, who's serving in Moscow on the University of Idaho campus, came to Pullman with me. She is such a sweetheart! She's been out 2 months now and reminds me a lot of myself when I first came out. We had a grand time together!! 

      Saturday night while we were out street contacting, we walked past this lady who told us we looked very happy (you cannot not be happy when you're sharing the restored gospel of Jesus Christ). When she walked by, I called after her and asked if she's ever met missionaries before. Her reply? She turned around, and walking up to us said, "this is gonna sound really rude, but here it goes. I'm a Catholic, my husbands a Jew and if you have to be out proselytizing then God must not be with you". Then she put her hand up to her mouth as if saying "burn!" to her own "comeback" and walked away saying "God bless!" Sister Ashby and I just stood there and busted out laughing. It's really funny when people think that what they say is going to make us change. The past little while I've noticed that God and His Son, Jesus Christ, always has and always will work in patterns. They are the same yesterday, today, and forever! God called prophets then, so He calls them today. Christ sent out His apostles to proselytize after His death and resurrection, so He calls faithful servants to do the same today. Moses and Solomon and other ancient prophets built Temples (or tabernacles), so we build Temples today. God. Doesn't. Change. Nor will He ever. I'm grateful for my calling. No, it's not always easy. Not having anyone to teach has been very difficult for Sister Ashby and I. But, we know that when we're being rejected, we're standing with the most perfect Human Being that's ever lived, Jesus Christ. I feel honored that I have been counted worthy to suffer the smallest fraction of what He has suffered (Acts 5:41)

    Sunday we had Jesse Weed come to church!! We were super pumped to see him there! We're hopeful that as he continues to come, his answer to his prayers will come! This weekend we're having a ward Halloween party and we are very hopeful that many people and their friends will attend!! 

    I love you all and appreciate the prayers and support! Have a very HAPPY HALLOWEEN and be safe!! 

Love,

Sister Wilson"

"Our members take good care of us by sending us

home with lots of yummy, and very fattening food!"

"A giant yellow leaf we found :)" 

"Sister Murphey!" 

"Chilling in the Spokane Washington Mission

on Spokane Washington crossroads (:" 

 "WILSON ROAD!! There's also a Nicole Road

that I need to find (:"

"WSU Campus"

Jesus Christ is Our Lord and Savior

It's Monday! Which means we got another

email from our sweet Nicole. She also

sent us some pictures this week!

Check it out below:

"Hey everyone!! 

   This week was super long, but flew by in the blink of an eye...funny how mission time works! Not much happened this week....we did a lot of tracting (knocking on doors) and a lot of street contacting (talking to people we run into on the street!). Nonetheless, we met a lot of awesome people and still saw tender mercies! 

     Every day we tracted and street contacted. On Thursday, though, our hearts were broken. Twice Thursday evening we met someone who said, "what's that?" or "who's that?" when we told them we talk about Jesus Christ. Another guy told us, "I don't care for Jesus". It was probably the saddest thing I've ever heard on my mission. Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior and we wouldn't be here if it weren't for Him. There'd be no hope if it weren't for Him. Life would be pointless if it weren't for Him. He is the reason for every good thing and lifts us up in every bad thing. I am so grateful for my testimony of Jesus Christ and for all that I have because of Him. I would invite you all to ask, "what does Jesus Christ mean to me?" and really ponder all that He has done for you in your life. Never forget Him. 

      Saturday, Washington State had a football game and everyone was tailgating. I didn't even know what that was until Sister Ashby explained it to me! It was crazy!! Because the game was at one, everyone was out and about at 10 that morning and there were a million RVs parked and a ton of people out celebrating. It was so strange to see so many people. Everyone was drinking too, so Sister Ashby and I decided to go somewhere else to contact other than campus. It made me super grateful for commandments (the Word of Wisdom especially, which is a health law that prohibits the consumption of alcoholic beverages and drugs and other harmful or addictive substances) and for the protection that they bring to us! We saw the Weeds again too, and they've been reading more from the Book of Mormon....it makes me so happy!! Jesse is slowly but surely progressing and we can't wait to see them again! 

       Sunday was good too! It was our first "normal" Sunday service, since last week we had stake conference. Our ward is so small, but they're so great! Haha, because there are so many congregations that meet at our building, there's 2 of each room...including 2 chapels! It makes me laugh:) Our Brazilian couple showed up at church too!! We're excited to continue to teach them and help them grow closer to Christ! Anyways, I feel very blessed to be here in this area. I feel very grateful for the opportunity I have to testify of Jesus Christ every single day. What a blessing it is to know Him and to know my potential because of Him. I'm very thankful for all that He has done for me. I love Him very much as well as my Heavenly Father who has given us His Son, Jesus Christ to make our return Home possible! 

        I hope you all have a wonderful week! Love you!

Sister Wilson"

"Our insanely ghetto window, haha. We can't fully close the window

because of the unit there, sot he past missionaries covered up

the openness!"

"Hot Chocolate from McDonalds :)"

"We're finding spiders in our apartment, so Sister Ashby decided to

duct tape the window even more to hopefully prevent future bugs!"

"People are getting "smarter" with their signs..."

"Pretty sunset :)"

Culture Shock

Here's Nicole's latest email home!

She's doing well in her new area, despite

how much different it is than what she's

used to. Read what she says below!

"Hey everyone!!! 

    I survived my first week in Pullman!! Haha, going from a teeny tiny Branch in a town that's in the middle of nowhere to a college campus with thousands of people my age on it is quite the culture shock! But, this means there are many adventures up ahead for Sister Ashby and I! 

     Sister Ashby is 19 and she's from Pocatello, Idaho! She's been out 3 months and she's great! :) I like her a lot. We have a lot in common and we get along well :) When we got to our area on Tuesday,we were very pleased to see that the elders before us left the area nice and organized. I was VERY appreciative of that! This whole week we spent trying to get to know the area. It's so weird being surrounded by so many people. What's even weirder is being on a college campus! Haha, it's fun though. 

     So...Pullman 2nd, Married Student Ward is a difficult ward to serve in. To qualify to attend our ward, the couple has to be married and have kids under 7. Needless to say, we have a tough time trying to find people to teach and are focusing on the members. Our members are absolutely wonderful! It's weird to think everyone in my ward is just a few years older than I am, but they're so supportive, encouraging, and helpful! I love seeing these younger people be so strong in the gospel despite their crazy lives. It gives me comfort and hope for what post-mission life can offer me. And we do have some investigators! There's a Brazilian couple we get to work with (we're actually meeting them for the first time tonight). Their names are Dierlie and Gilberto! It's hard to pronounce them, but we're working on it! They know English well, but, surprisingly, there are many people in the ward that know Portuguese that can help if there's something they don't understand. I'm excited to meet them! We're also working with a part member family, the Weeds. Alice Weed is a returning less active member and Jesse Weed is her husband whom we're working with. We had one lesson with them and I just fell in love with the family! They have an adorable little boy (whom I wish I could hold!) and they are just an awesome family! Upon our first visit, we taught them the Restoration and started basic! They are wonderful and I'm excited to work with them more :) 

      Ooooohhhhhh...guess what??? One of my zone leaders, Elder Jones, is from ALLEN TEXAS! That's so close to home!! It's a small world!! It amazes me how many people I meet who have connections with myself or someone that I know. It just adds the cherry on top to missionary work :) 

     That basically sums up my week. It was quite the change, but I'm so excited to see how the Lord is going to shape me and work through me for the benefit of this area. I know that Joseph Smith was called of God to restore Christ's church. I know that the Priesthood (power, or permission, of God for men to act in Christ's name for our benefit) is found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and that it is a huge blessing to everyone. I'm very grateful for all that I have! The Church is true! 

 I hope you all have a wonderful week! Love ya'll! 

Sister Wilson"

Sister Killian, a member in Nicole's branch, made her

brownies for her birthday :) 

Nicole's zone back in Ritzville 

Pretty scenery 

Nicole's zone back in Ritzville 

Nicole's zone now. She's in the Moscow University Zone

and travels to Moscow, Idaho often. Her church building is

about a minute past the Idaho border. 

Nicole with Sister Ashby (: 

Part of campus. Nicole says she'll send more pictures of

campus next week....hopefully!

He Told Me "yes" In a Way I Didn't Expect Him To

Here's Nicole's email from today! Transfers were this week.

Spoiler alert: Nicole got transferred. Her birthday

is tomorrow, so once we get her new address, 

I'll be sure to post it here as well as on Facebook 

so if you want to send her something, you can.

"Hello friends and family!! 

       The end of this week went by really slow, yet super fast! It was pretty good though!! 

       My "secret" meeting was really just a Missionary Leadership Council (MLC). These meetings occur every month and are usually for all the missionary leaders, but this time other missionaries who aren't in a leadership position were invited, like me. It was so good and I learned a lot. President Dymock made a lot of changes so we're excited to see where the mission will go with these new revelations :) 

       Saturday and Sunday were General Conference! SO AMAZING!!!!! I love our new apostles that were called and all the talks were absolutely inspired! I loved Sister Stephens talk on the importance of trusting in God and His plan and the blessings that come as we do so. Of course Elder Holland and President Nelson's talks were fabulous, stressing the importance of women in the church and women in general. How great a role we play as Daughters in His Gospel! They were all just so good!! I really enjoyed President and Prophet Thomas S. Monson's talk too. The importance of developing Christ-like attributes and coming closer to Him and knowing who He is and how we can become like Him.Christ is definitely the center of everything we do and conference this weekend really reinforced that. How blessed I am and feel to be so edified. If you missed it, go and watch it. It will bring you closer to our Savior! 

      Now for transfers. This transfer call took Sister Brown and I completely by surprise. Sister Brown is staying and training a new missionary while I'm leaving to go to Pullman 2nd ward to be with Sister Ashby (Not sure if spelled right, but pernounced Ash-bee). It's a married student ward, which basically means lots of people a little older than I am who are married and have young kids. I was not expecting this and wasn't entirely thrilled about it at first. After pondering it, the Spirit opened my eyes and gave me understanding. This transfer call is an answer to my prayers. God ALWAYS answers us, but sometimes the answer is no. In my case, He didn't tell me no. He just told me "yes" in a way I didn't expect Him to. As I continue to ponder this, I began to be very grateful for my transfer call. Although I can see that it will pull me and stretch me and push me, I know that God is shaping me into something better than I could every imagine. I'm excited, and nervous (haha) to see what all God has in store for me! How blessed I feel! 

     I hope you all have a wonderful week! I love you and pray for you daily! God lives and so does His Son Jesus Christ. They love us and are watching out for us! May we always remember Them! 

Sister Wilson"

Nicole and Sister Brown 

One of MANY trains that pass through Ritzville every day 

Nicole and her fun district 

I Couldn't Be More Blessed

Here's Nicole's email from this week! Please pay 

close attention to what she says about sending her 

things this next week! Her birthday is the day after

transfers, so if you plan on sending her anything, 

you need to be strategic in your timing. :)

"Hey everyone!!! 

        This past week and a half was super awesome! Sister Brown and I got to go to the Temple this morning with our awesome member, Sister Murphey, which is why our pday was moved to today :)

         First and foremost, transfers is this upcoming week, so if anyone was planning on sending anything, make sure it gets here on or beforeMonday! 

         So last Tuesday, we get a call and I've been invited to a mysterious meeting tomorrow. Only me...not Sister Brown. Supposedly only a handful of missionaries have been invited, so Sister Brown and I will be going on an exchange. It's a 7 hour meeting, so it will be interesting... (:

         Last week we were able to teach lots of lessons! We're teaching a family named the Giffins. Brother and Sister Giffin are less active and Sister Giffin's sister, Vonnie, and her 3 kids live with them. Brother and Sister Giffin want to be active so badly, but their jobs are what keeps them from church. They arranged for us to come over every week for a Family Home Evening so we can meet with them and start teaching their niece and 2 nephews (with Vonnie's permission). The goal is to eventually get Vonnie to sit in with us...we're hopeful! At the end of the lesson we had with them, I offered the kids stickers. They were so excited...until they saw my stickers, haha. The little girl, Alaina, asked if I had any other stickers or if Sister Brown had any....she was quite disappointed when the answer was no... 

        On Friday we met with Alexis again! Alexis is doing so great!! We finally got her concerns out about church and shared a scripture with her from the Book of Mormon! We saw her yesterday and she said she's been reading the scripture we shared with her every day since last week and that she believes the Book of Mormon to be true!! She is so great and has a strong desire to come closer to Christ and to see if this is where He wants her to be! It is such a pleasure working with her :)

        Saturday was the General Women's meeting that I failed to announce. It was so great and if you didn't get to see it, go to lds.org to watch it! It was so great and uplifting and powerful! One of my favorite quotes was, "we weren't designed to be sad, we were designed to have joy"! What a beautiful thought! God intends for us to be happy and as we turn to Him, we find everlasting joy! 

       Sunday we had an unexpected miracle. One of the first 2 weeks we got to Ritzville, we met this guy named Bobby. We talked to him briefly and gave him a card with our number and church time/address on it. We told him he was welcomed any time. Well, weeks later (this past Sunday), we walked into church and who do we see? BOBBY!! He stayed for the first 2 hours and then left. Sister Brown and I were pleasantly surprised...it was so great!! (:

       Monday we had another amazing day! We got 5 new investigators! The first is a lady named Marie. She's from a part member family. Her husband is a member, but less active. While we talked with all of them she learned that family relationships last forever and that they don't end at death. She loved that truth and wants to learn more....we're excited! We also met a lady named Maria who talked with missionaries in the past. She seems pretty open and we're going to start reading the Book of Mormon with her! Amy and Emily Allen are super awesome! Amy's mom is a member and Amy grew up in the church to a degree, but never got baptized. They also agreed to let us come over weekly. They have great potential and desire to strengthen their relationship with God!! We just love them! They're an awesome family and we look forward to getting to know them more! Then we briefly met a lady named Becca. We actually talked to her husband a while ago, but didn't know that until we found the address she gave us. She seems open (and her husband did too), so we're excited to meet with them Friday!! 

        Today, we went to the Temple with Sister Murphey, as mentioned above. I have never learned more in the Temple than I did today. I am so grateful for the Temple and for the Spirit that dwells there. I know the Temple is the House of God and that we come to know Him more as we attend. It was such an awesome experience and I can't wait until my next trip!! While there, we ran into a group of elders and later a group of sisters. I love seeing missionaries in the Temple. I am so grateful that because of God's love, we can be sealed in the Temple with our families for eternity! Some of the pictures are from our trip this morning and the elders we ran into (: 

         I'll wrap up my email with the invitation to watch General Conference this weekend! It will be broadcasted on lds.org and most likely in the church buildings near you! Washington time it's 10-12 and 2-4 both days (Texas time I believe is 12-2 and 4-6?) so watch it!! It's totally worth it and it's a great way to find out what we believe and why! I love you all and pray you have a wonderful week! 

Love,

Sister Wilson"

 *Sorry this picture is sideways... it's rotated in My Pictures

on my computer, but for some reason didn't get posted correctly*

"The photo of the elder (Elder Porter) I sent on accident, haha.

He obviously took a selfie at the Temple. He was my first

district leader though!"

"The other women in the picture with Sister Brown and I are

Sister Moffett and her roommate Barb. Sister Moffett would take

us out to eat at least once every week! Sadly, her and Barb

are going on a very fun, and very long (6 months) vacation. Haha,

she's so great, she said,'I'm afraid you're going to starve when I

leave!!' Hahaha, we will miss her dearly! Her and her friend were so

sweet and we just love their company!"