I'm a Satanist, but I Don't Worship Satan

Nicole had another great week this week. She had some fun

stories to share with us in her latest email:

"Hey everyone!! 

     This week was great!! Sister Peeler and I were able to attend some ward activities and get to know our members better! We attended a Relief Society party and played a lot of get to know you games. We got to play speed-friending! Haha, it was so fun(: Then, we went to an Elders Quorum potluck dinner. Now this activity wasn't advertised very well, so only about 15 people showed up..haha. It was still fun! We got to play Cranium and another fun game that I can't remember. It was so fun to play games with the members...they are so funny and fun to be around! We are truly blessed to be able to work with so many amazing people! I love the Belle Terre Ward! 

     Ready for a miracle???? Friday, we went to an apartment complex and we ran into this lady named Tonia. She said "are you mormons?" Sister Peeler and I were like "yes!". She then explained "I was just trying to call someone from the mormon church!" We started talking to her and she just started crying! She's been struggling a lot and is desparately trying to grow closer to God and to allow Him to take control of her life. She already has strong faith, but she's ready to let it all go and give it all to Him. It was so great! We taught her about the Restoration and she loved it! She feels it's true and she was crying and said "I know meeting you was God's way of telling me He loves me and is there for me". It was so great...I just love her!!

     Saturday was our blitz....it was so awesome!! Again, we're very blessed to have such awesome ward members...we had 4 members help us out and come on splits with us (for those who don't know, splits are when you and your companion split up and go with a member as a temporary companion). It was so great to have 14 missionaries working and talking to peole in our area! We have so many potential and new investigators to teach now!! MIRACLES!!! Ahhhhhhh all of our hard work is paying off and I'm so excited for this upcoming week...we actually have lessons to teach!!! Some elders ran into Tonia and put her on date to be baptized at the end of April! :) EXCITEMENT!!!! 

       Yesterday, we tried contacting some people in our plans. As we were driving, we saw this guy on the side of the street just standing there smoking. We pulled over and got out to talk to him. We told him we were missionaries and shared a message about Jesus Christ and inviting people to follow Him by being baptized. He simply explained, "I'm a Satanist, but I don't worship Satan". Hahaha, Sister Peeler and I just stared at him really confused. We asked him what exactly is a satanist and he stated "Well, we just find strength in ourselves....I guess it's called Satanism because Humanist was already taken" Hahaha, it was quite interesting and pretty funny. He was really cool, but not very interested! 

     Well, I'm very grateful for my calling despite the hardships and disappointments that come with it. The people we meet, regardless of whether or not they're interested, make it all worth it. We have so many fun, funny, strange, interesting, spiritual experiences that are just so great! I feel very blessed and honored that the Lord has trust in me to do this sacred calling! 

     I hope you all have a wonderful week and are mindful of the many miracles that you will find everyday as you diligently look! I love you all!! 

Love, 

Sister Wilson"

Another Week!!!

Letter time! Nicole had another great week this week.

Her P-Day was moved to St. Patrick's Day this week. Read

her email below:

"Hey everyone! Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

     My pday was switched to today because we went to the Temple!!! It was so awesome! Sister Peeler had a lot of names to do, so I got to do a session for one of her ancestors! It was a very special experience to me to be able to do that work for her relatives! I feel truly honored and blessed! I love the Temple and I can't wait until my future family and I can be sealed for time and all eternity!! 

      OH MY GOSH!!! I GOT TO SHAKE THE HAND OF A MEMBER OF THE 70!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Elder Hamula came and spoke to us and it was AWESOME! He taught us so much about hard work and faith and how to help people grow in their faith..ourselves included. He told us to not try so hard to be like everyone else, but to be the best us we can be...because no one else is like us(: It was great. He also told us the ELDER NELSON IS COMING!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I love our general authorities and I can't wait to meet Elder Nelson in April!! Serving a mission brings so many blessings!!! 

     This weekend, we got to do something really cool called a Blitz...that's when all the missionaries in our zone get together in one area to do some contacting (or talking to people). Blitz's happen so we can help another area progress and help them find new people to teach. This upcoming weekend, we're doing one in Belle Terre....we are so excited because we need people to teach...desperately!! We'll be doing a blitz every weekend for the transfer...it's so great! 

      This week I learned a very important lesson. We met a lot of cool people who are interested in us coming back....the only problem is they weren't for us, but for another area. This really frustrated me because I wanted to teach people and I wanted to baptize people and I want to convert people, and I I I......That's when the Spirit smacked me in the face and told me who's boss...haha. I came to the realization that missionary work is all about bringing others unto Christ and helping them strengthen their relationship with Him. The ONLY teacher, and converter is the Spirit....it has nothing to do with which missionary it is, because the missionary doesn't do anything (don't get me wrong, we do a lot, but we don't take, nor do we deserve credit for). The Spirit truly is the factor that helps people back into the fold. As I reflect on my conversion, I realized the only reason I joined the church was because of the way I felt as the missionaries taught me....the Spirit they had made me happy, joyful, peaceful, and desire to have it in my life. It doesn't matter who it is, as long as the Spirit is there. I was very humbled and grateful for that lesson!! 

       On Thursday, Sister Peeler and I got to help a pair of Senior Couple Missionaries pack. They just finished their mission and are headed home. It was so bitter sweet! I really love Sister and Elder Handy and we greatly appreciated their service! I'm grateful that the Lord's work truly can be done by anyone who has the desire to do it! (D&C4!:)

       That's basically the jist of my week...it was better than last week! This week has started off great too and I look forward to seeing what's in store for me as I diligently work! I hope and pray ya'll have a great week too! I love you all!!!!

Love, 

Sister Wilson"

We Got Locked Out of Our House!

While Nicole had a pretty low-key week, it still

provided some humor! Here's her latest email home:

"Howdy!! 

     So, we just had transfer calls and I'm staying in Belle Terre with Sister Peeler!! I am so excited to have another transfer with her and to get to serve in this awesome ward for another 6 weeks! How blessed I am!! 

      Nothing real exciting happened this week... we did a lot of tracting again, and met a lot of cool, nice, interesting people. Haha, I love tracting. 

       We did have one funny thing happen this week though! On Thursday, weekly planning day, Sister Peeler and I just lounge around. I stay in my fuzzy slippers all day and she runs around bare foot, and life is just great (as great as it can be when you're sitting inside planning for 5 hours). Well, this past Thursday, our Zone Leaders (Elder Folu and Elder Olson) came by to drop off a sheet for Sister Peeler (she was suppose to give a training on Friday for Zone Training). Sister F., the 74 yr. old lady we live with, left for a doctors appointment so we were the only ones home. We ran upstairs and went outside to stand on the doorstep to get the papers. Without thinking that Sister F. keeps her doors locked ALWAYS, Sister Peeler closes the front door. I was like "please say you unlocked the doorknob before closing the door". She replied "Um...no. Was I suppose to?". We tried the doorknob hoping we'd be lucky...we quickly realized we got locked out of our house. We left our phone, garage door opener (the only way inside) and EVERYTHING inside. The first thing Elder Folu said when he realized we were locked out was "Is there an open window somewhere?" Hahaha. Elder Folu and Elder Olson died laughing while we just stood there in fuzzy slippers, barefoot outside. Elder Folu gave us their phone so we could call nearby sisters to come pick us up to hang out with until Sister F. got home. Not wanting to leave us alone, the elders decided they'd stay until the sisters got here. Well, the elders saw this man walking down the street, playing with a yo-yo, and they chased after him. Their car was still running, so they told us to watch it while they talked to the yo-yo man. So here's the picture; 2 sister missionaries barefoot and in fuzzy slippers standing next to a running car, while 3 elders (the district leader was with the ZLs) are running down the street after a man with a yo-yo. We're just awkwardly waiting for the other sisters to come pick us up, then Sister F. pulled up and into the garage. Thinking we could just sneak in there so she wouldn't find out how stupid we were to lock ourselves out (she'd get really mad at things like that), she decided to close the garage door before we could sneak in after her. The good news, though, is we can call the sisters and tell them they don't need to pick us up.....but the elders are down the street talking to the yo-yo man with their phone. The sisters pulled up and we had to tell them that we didn't need a ride anymore. The elders came back and we all just laughed about the situation. Finally, we decided we'd have to go knock on the door so Sister F. can let us in and get mad at us. When she let us in, she was like "I'm going to call your mission president....and tell him ya'll were flirting with the elders!!!" HAHAHAHAHAHA, we explained that we got locked out and how we involved 5 missionaries and blah blah blah. She gave us this look like "you're so stupid". It was pretty funny!!! 

     That's as exciting as my week was, haha. Transfers are over now, which is always nice. I'm sad that we had to say goodbye to so many awesome elders and sisters that I got to serve with. The love, support, encouragement, and lessons I've learned from them I will never ever forget! I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to serve with them and I pray they will adapt to their "normal" life when they get home! I'm excited to serve with new missionaries and to learn from them! I am indeed grateful for all the people God places in our paths! 

      Another cool thing that happened this week was I was in the ward newsletter for the month of March! I was pretty excited. They had me write a letter about my mission thus far, so it was fun (: 

      That pretty much sums up my week! I hope you all have a great week and that you take the time to really appreciate and tell the ones you love and admire how much they mean to you. We are so blessed with all the people we know and we need not to take them for granted! I'm so grateful for each of you and your love, prayers, and support! I love you all!! 

Love,

Sister Wilson"

A New Week!

It's that time again! Nicole had a MUCH better week

this week. Here's her latest email home, complete with pictures:

"Hey everyone! 

    So, as I said, this week was MUCH better! I'm so grateful!! God is so good and through His Son, Jesus Christ, I was able to have a much better week! 

     Monday was pday. It was a hard p-day for whatever reason. Our pday ends at 6 pm then we have to get back to work. Well, come 6 last week, I had NO desire to go out and work. I was so emotionally upset ( I don't even know why) and I just didn't want to do anything. Nonetheless, I DO NOT want to go home wishing I would have worked harder. I only have 14 short months left, and I do NOT intend on wasting a second of it. So, I told myself "Nicole, you are going to go out, and work hard. Just 3 more hours and you're done for the day...you can do this" I then got this "random" thought in my head (the Spirit totally told me this) that if I were to give it my all, I would see miracles tonight....and I did!!! We finally got a hold of Shane (he's INSANELY hard to get in touch with) and taught him a lesson. Then we went to see Leslie and she told us that even though Church was way over her head, she has felt at peace ever since she's been to our church. This is HUGE!! A little background on Leslie: she is convinced that she's being haunted by evil spirits and now they have found a way to posses her. She's been fighting these evil spirits for a few years and it gets her really depressed and said and all she wants in her life is peace. So, needless to say, this was a VERY big deal for her! She said she thinks it's God's Spirit telling her this is where she belongs....AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Then our member, Ed, had a great day at work and an AMAZING experience with prayer! MIRACLES!!!!!!!!! I am so grateful for all the miracles I've seen, big and small! I know that as I, and YOU, try your hardest to push on in the hard times, YOU WILL BE BLESSED!!! God loves you and all of us way too much to let us suffer, if only we will turn to Him! How grateful I was to have this lesson learned again! 

       Wednesday, I got to see Sister Gosdis! That's the first picture in the email! She had her temple trip that day and she stopped to say hi(: It was such a joyful moment! Happy me(: 

        Friday, we had to drop Leslie...she's not fully committed so we need to give her some time...it was so sad!!! I love her so much and really want her to progress! But, as I looked back on my experience with missionaries, I realized I was dropped a THOUSAND times before finally joining the church. So, this is probably really good for her. God will work on her until the next set of missionaries run into her!

       Saturday, we had exchanges..that's the second picture (at least, this is the order I'm hoping the pictures are in). I went to Pines area with Sister Norcross...she's from the Navajo Reservation by 4 corners in Arizona...way cool! Anyways, we had a very weird morning. We were doing companionship study and we get this weird call from someone named Sister Sally (I changed the name). Neither of us knew who she was but she called and was really frantic and talked fast and said she needs us to meet her at the ER asap. She was going to the ER to get checked out and she didn't want to do it alone. She wanted us to go help and comfort and support her. It was really strange. We called the Zone Leaders and asked for permission and they said we could go as long as we had a member with us (again, we had no idea who she was). We went to the hospital, met her, and sat in the room with her for a little bit....it was so weird! Supposedly she's a member but hasn't been in 4 months. She wouldn't tell us where she lived or much of anything personal because it was all confidential....really strange. It was very strange.....anyways, the rest of the exchange went normal and it was fun! It was really cool because we visited some members in Pines' ward and it was INCREDIBLE! Exchanges are always inspired and I thought we were inspired to go where we need to because we need to teach another missionary something and learn something from them or to touch one of their investigator's lives. Well, I learned they're so much more than that. I knew I had to go to Pines that day because I needed Pines members! They said things that touched my life and helped me feel comforted, loved, and reaffirmed to me that I'm where I need to be at this time in my life! God works in mysterious ways!! 

       Sunday was great! I love fasting and feeling the Spirit at church and partaking of the sacrament. My favorite part about yesterday, though, was going to dinner with the Criddles (3rd and 4th picture). These awesome people are my family away from family and they make me so happy! The brunette's name is Savannah (she's 16 and preparing for her own mission!) and the blonde is Malia! They are so great! Last night was the first time I have laughed so hard in so long! It was such a joyous time! I'm so grateful for the awesome people I get to meet and all the members I get to work with out here! It truly is a blessing! I am so grateful for these awesome people! The love and support I receive from them is indescribable! 

       Now, for the miracle today, we went to the dollar store and ran into this member, whom neither of us know. As we were in line, she was behind us, and she paid for us! We didn't have much stuff, but we really appreciated her! WE ARE SO BLESSED!!!!! 

      This last week was pretty good, and this week is going to be just as good, if not better! I'm so grateful for my calling!!! I can't wait to work my tail off this week and to find new people to teach! The opportunities that are available for us as we follow Christ are numberless! I hope you all have a wonderful week and take advantage of the possibilities ahead of you! I love you all and appreciate all the prayers and support! 

Love, 

Sister Wilson"

No Religious Witnessing

While Nicole seemed to have a tough week this week, 

she definitely had some positives too. Check out

her latest email (and pictures) home:

"Howdy howdy! 

  

      So this week was insanely hard. All of our investigators either dropped us, are ignoring us, or we had to pass them on to the Young Single Adult sisters. The only investigators we have now are Leslie (who, by the way, got baptized in her church last week and then came to our sacrament meeting....I think we're about to drop her....) and Shane, who is out of town a lot because he just had really bad knee surgery. Needless to say, we did a lot of tracting this week with little success. It slowly took its tool on both Sister Peeler and I and we had no motivation or desire to do the Lord's work, which made us feel even worse. I had to tell myself over and over that this is NOT MY time, but it's the LORD'S TIME and I need to use it wisely and do all that I can for the few short 14 months ahead of me. I have officially reached 4 months and it went by slowly, but also SOOOO FAST!!! These next 14 months are going to FLY by and that scares me. I want to be the absolute best that I can because Heavenly Father deserves that from me. I'm excited to start this new week fresh and with renewed energy and desire for His work! 

     Now, onto the good parts of the week, because they were there:) As I said, we did a lot of tracting this week. We run into a lot of houses with No Soliciting signs and because we're not selling anything, we can get away with still knocking. Haha, we came to this one house and right next to the No Soliciting sign was a No Religious Witnessing sign in handwriting and taped to the window. It was pretty funny! You encounter a lot of interesting things and people when tracting, and tracting is actually pretty fun! 

     Another funny tracting story..we were tracting in these apartments and we tracted into 2 members....now, it's not like we didn't know they lived there and it was a nice surprise. Rather, we didn't know they were members! So the first door, I was like "Hi, I'm Sister Wilson!" He replied "Hi, I'm Brother______" Now, we could have played that cool and said something about how we wanted to get to know his family more or something. Instead, we just stood there awkwardly and were like "you're a member?! Oh....*awkward laugh*" It was pretty awkward...supposedly he's an active member of our ward...we're good missionaries as you can see. Now, the next door we knock on and we do the same thing. We introduce ourselves and he said his name was Josh (this is an older man). We started telling him how we were missionaries and he just nodded. I then asked if he's ever met with missionaries before, and he said "yes....I'm a member of the church". Haha.....we didn't feel as dumb about this one because it turns out he was less active and hasn't come for a while. Nonetheless, it was pretty weird. 

     Friday, we had Zone Conference where President and Sister Mullen trained us on how to be better missionaries! It was so great! The picture of me and the other sisters is from that training (: 

   Another plus about this week was we had 3 investigators to church! Take it, one has been passed onto the Single Adult ward and the other is Leslie, whom we're really not getting anywhere with. But, we were glad to have them there (: 

     I'm excited to start anew and to do better and be more diligent in finding those whom the Lord has prepared to hear His gospel. I'm so grateful that we're able to have fresh starts and it's only possible through the Atonement! I hope everyone has a great week like I'm going to have! Your week and happiness really is all about how you look at it and I encourage you all to decide NOW to have a good week! I love you all and am so grateful for each of you and your influences! You're in my prayers(: 

Love, 

Sister Wilson"

A Busy Week

It's that time again! We got another email this week. :)

With President's Day happening this week, her P-day got

pushed back to Tuesday (instead of Monday).

It sounds like Nicole had a busy week! Here's

what she had to say:

"Howdy! 

     Since yesterday was President's Day, they moved our P-day to today!

 

     This past week was pretty good! Tuesday, we rode our bikes and talked to A LOT of people!! We got to this one house and knocked, and we hear a "come in!" Sister Peeler and I looked at each other and was like "what do we do?!" We knocked again and got the same response and we stood there contemplating what to do from there. Finally, Sister Peeler was like, "let's go in!" I opened the door and we awkwardly started coming in. There was a family room ahead with people sitting and talking and a study to the left right when you walk in. This lady was walking out of the study and looked at us like "what are you doing in my house?" We replied "uh....they said to come in..." The people in the living room just sat there and it was SO AWKWARD!!!!!! Needless to say, she wasn't too interested in talking to us after that point. 

     Wednesday, we were on exchanges (we do that once a week) and we did a lot of tracting. It was fun, I really enjoy tracting. I was with Sister Doman and it was pretty great! We met a lot of interesting people! That night, we had a birthday party for Sister Norcross! It was so much fun! We had some members of the Zone gather together and we had cake and talked for a little while. It made me very grateful for the missionaries I serve with (: 

    Thursday was Weekly Planning...which means we stay inside for 5 hours to plan...at the end of weekly planning we do something called Companionship Inventory where we talk about things we can improve on together and individually and we discuss how we can make that happen. We also talk about things that are going wrong in the relationship and things we may need to change. We had a very long Comp. Inventory...we seem to disagree when it comes to planning and sometimes it causes a little contention. I hate having to talk through feelings and such but I also love it! I have learned how to better communicate with people and Sister Peeler and I came to an awesome agreement and our relationship only grew stronger (not that it was weak...we have a great relationship and always have, we just disagree on Thursdays haha). I love having to open up to my companions and it makes my friendships and trust in them so much greater! How blessed we are to be able to have time to talk to one another. I hear of a lot of people who struggle with their companions and I feel truly truly blessed and grateful for all the companions I have been put with! God knows me so well and who I need....He's so awesome! 

       Friday was good...pretty ordinary(: 

       Saturday we did some more tracting, except this time it was in my own area. Haha, we ran into a baptist lady who was out with 2 little girls. She had a name tag on and when she saw us, she said "who are you associated with?" We told her we were from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and she immediately was like "We're with Spokane Baptist". We were really polite and said it's really cool that we both are out talking about Christ and helping people come closer to Him....she didn't think it was as cool as I did...it was pretty awkward. Richard, our 71 year old, had an awesome experience! We saw him and asked how his prayer about being baptized went and he said "well, I have something to tell you. I woke up this morning and thought, I don't want to get baptized and I'm not going to. I was going to tell you when you come over tonight but then I opened the Book of Mormon and read something that changed my mind..." He showed us the verse and it said something along the lines of "I command all to be baptized and I don't want any disputations among you." It was INSANE! So he said he was seriously thinking about baptism now....we were so hopeful!

       Sunday Leslie came to church for 1/2 of sacrament meeting then left...she had a family thing. She said she's planning on coming next week for all 3 hours so we'll see!

        Yesterday we did another exchange and I stayed in my area with a Spanish sister, Sister Santiago. We visited Richard last night and guess what...HE DROPPED US (which means he doesn't want to see us anymore)!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!! It was so sad and I was devastated....but, I know that he's just not ready, and as much as it pains me to say, I don't want him to be baptized if he doesn't want it. He needs to really want it in order for it to make a difference in his life. I'm so grateful for all that I have and especially for the elders that taught and baptized me. I don't know where I'd be without them. I know that Richard will accept the gospel eventually, if not in this life, then in the one to come. How blessed I am and feel to have this gospel in my life! 

      I hope everyone had a great week and good Valentine's Day! Have a wonderful week and remember to count your blessings and remember how loved you all are! Love you!!!!

Love, 

Sister Wilson"

 This box is a cigar box that Shane gave Nicole to put her scriptures in!

The snowman was Nicole's Valentine's Day gift! She says,"My ward is so awesome!!"

Long Week

It sounds like Nicole had an eventful week this week!

Check out her email (and pictures) below:

"Hey everyone! 

    This week was long after Wednesday...haha. But it was still pretty good.

    I'll start from the beginning....Tuesday I was in a trio for a little bit while Sister Peeler was in a meeting. When we went to go pick her up, guess who I saw???? SISTER ROGERS!!!! Ahhhh I was so excited to see her (for those of you who don't remember, she was my first companion)!!!! It was such a joyful moment and a tender mercy from the Lord! Oh how happy it was to see her(: 

     Wednesday, I went on an exchange with Sister McDougal...she's Spanish speaking. We stayed in Belle Terre and it was so awesome! We rode our bikes a lot, even as it started raining a little bit. I love riding my bike, even though I feel like I'm flashing people at times...haha. We saw so many miracles and talked to so many awesome people! We got 5 new investigators that day...it was so awesome! These new people, at least the ones who haven't already dropped us, are so awesome!! I already love them so much and they have a special place in my heart. I am so excited to teach them more about this gospel that will bless them and help them through the things they are going through. AHHHH I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!! Wednesday night, though, Sister Peeler started getting sick. 

      Thursday, is our weekly planning day, which means we're planning all day for the upcoming week. Again, Sister Peeler was sick (she remained sick for the rest of the week and is just getting over it). Thursday afternoon/evening we're supposed to get to work again and go see people. We had a dinner appointment with some investigators (those are the best) that was crucial for us to go to. So we did a split for dinner so I could still attend. They're so great! They're an older couple named Bob and Sharon and they are so prepared. They ask great questions and are reading the Book of Mormon and enjoying it and are loving our visits! They're so great and sincere and great!!

       Friday we had a zone training for a big chunk of the day. The rest of the day after that was kind of slow because we had to take lots of long breaks for Sister Peeler. It's hard not being able to work like you're suppose to. It gives me way too much time to think haha. 

      Saturday...ERIN GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so awesome and so many nonmembers were there and she just beamed and glowed and shined and was so happy. It made me so happy! It's been such a blessing to get to work with her. She's been taking lessons for 2 years and it's been cool to see how much the gospel has changed her in just the 2 short months I've known her. How awesome the gospel is! She is so happy and she makes me happy every time I see her. The way she loves our Savior and the way she has really applied the Atonement and the gospel in general in every circumstance is truly an inspiration to me! She's just great(: 

       Yesterday, we taught Sunday School on the Atonement...it actually went pretty well...much better than I thought it would. I'm just so grateful for the Atonement and for our Savior's love for each of us. His love is truly indescribable and is greater than anything you and I could ever imagine. We should all be striving to apply His Atonement, or His sacrifice for us, daily, hourly, secondly. There are so many people who have no idea that we have a Savior, and we DO know that we have a Savior, so why not use Him every day?! How blessed we are! My invitation to everyone is to make the Savior, Jesus Christ, part of your daily lives and I can promise you, you will see miracles and more joy and happiness and blessings will enter into your life as you do so! This is my prayer for you all and I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen! 

         Love you all!! 

Love

Sister Wilson

P.s. Have a great week and HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!"