Hallelujah

Here's Nicole's latest email home (from March 14th):

"Good afternoon friends and family!! 

     This week was a little tougher, but oh how I'm grateful for so many things!! Let's start from the beginning: 

     Monday evening we went tracting. The street we had planned to tract was full of dark houses which was pretty discouraging. We found ourselves thinking, "why did we plan this street?" haha, God showed us pretty quickly....there was one lit house and we decided to knock on the door. It turns out a guy named Ryan lives there. We met Ryan a few weeks ago at the gas station and he gave us his number. It had been tough to get a hold of him, but when we met him tonight, we were able to set up a return appointment!! It was a great reminder to me that God's purposes are much higher than ours. It also reminded me that God loves all of his children and will send us anywhere if it so be that we could "bring save it be one soul unto [Him]". 

    Tuesday our investigator, Jhamee, dropped us. She said she's just very overwhelmed with all the different people she's talking with and needs to take a break. The blessing from it? She told us that she will still read the Book of Mormon. She also told us that she feels like she's grown closer to Jesus Christ since meeting with us. She prays differently now and sees Christ in a new way. Even though she's not wanting to meet with us right now, it feels good to know that we were still able to help her come unto Him more fully. Fulfilling our purpose is one of the greatest feelings in the world :) 

     Wednesday we had a lesson with supposedly a new investigator...haha, turns out she invited us over because she's writing a book on different religions and wants to do a section on Mormons and had some questions for us. We were able to make our purpose clear that we are here to help people accept the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that they can come to know Him more fully. Another testimony builder of what my purpose is and why/how it's so important! I love those teaching moments =)

    Thursday we had dinner at the Rasmussens. They've been less active for a while, but Sister Rasmussen has expressed the desire to go to the temple!! She was super excited to tell us she's been reading the Book of Mormon on her own, is a full tithe payer, and is trying to get to the Temple! It was exciting to see her so excited about it. She knows the importance of the Temple and it makes me so happy! I love the Temple so much!!! 

    Friday we did splits with some sweet girls, Audrey and Audrey :) We love their desire and willingness to participate in God's work! 

    Saturday we went out to one of the more booniest parts of our area. After spending the whole day there and finding no success, we decided to try one more person before heading home. They're a less active and part member family. The wife, the nonmember, answered and explained that everyone was home sick. We introduced ourselves and offered our help. She politely declined. BUT she said we could come back sometime to share a message about Jesus Christ with her family. I am so hopeful that we'll be able to teach her family and help her husband rekindle the fire he has once felt! 

      Sunday was great. We had wonderful talks in Sacrament meeting about the Atonement and a wonderful lesson in Relief Society about Joseph Smith being called as a prophet! The Spirit was so strong throughout our meetings. The best part about yesterday? The new Easter video produced by the church came out!! Everyone go watch it!!!!!!! Visit followhim.mormon.org. It is worth the time and you will feel the Spirit strongly as you listen to these testimonies of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. When we showed it to the member we live with, she immediately asked to watch it again when it was over....it's so good!!! 

      I love you all and pray you have a wonderful week! The church is true! Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet and to restore Christ's church. Christ died for us and rose again. He lives today. I love Him and know He loves me! He loves you and He knows all of us personally! 

#Hallelujah

Love, 

Sister Wilson"

Fresh Start

Here's Nicole's March 7th email:

"Good Afternoon!!!! 

      This past week was very slow. A lot of our appointments fell through and we had meetings and we didn't feel like we got a lot of time to proselyte. But, no need to worry....this week will be better :) We are so excited for the fresh start we get and for new opportunities to improve :) 

      Because not a whole lot happened this week, I want to focus on the lessons I learned. 

      First-Don't judge. I was reminded this week the importance of first casting out the beam in my own eyes before trying to cast out the mote of another's. We are all imperfect. If someone was perfect, there would be no need for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We all make mistakes and we all have weaknesses that are different from others. Regardless, the Atonement of Jesus Christ can cover and fix all. What a blessing it is to know that He will be the Judge....the perfect, most righteous judgement will be given by the One who knows perfectly...I am forever grateful for that! 

     Second-Be patient with everyone, including yourself. It's so easy to get upset with our own weaknesses and to get irritated if we're not improving the way we would like. Again, the Atonement will enable us, but it takes time. God is patient with us, so we should be patient with ourselves too :)

     Third-We have so much hope for a brighter future. I was reminded of this in our testimony meeting yesterday. We were very blessed to hear the sincere, powerful testimonies of many of the youth in the Nine Mile Falls ward. As I sat listening, I leaned over to Sister Foo and whispered, "I LOVE hearing the youth's testimonies!!" She then replied, "this is the rising generation". Immediately I remembered a conversation we had a few weeks back with an older gentleman. He went off on how we should fear the future and how our generation need to step it up and politics this and politics that. He just kept saying how much fear we should have. Sitting in that testimony meeting yesterday, I couldn't help but think about how much HOPE I have for the future and for the rising generation. As we are continually nourishing our testimonies and living the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we don't need to fear. We can look forward to the future! How grateful I am for my testimony and the strength it gives me. I love being a missionary. The Lord has blessed me with so much and my testimony has grown so much.....that is the biggest blessing of all! 

       I hope everyone has a great week!! I love you all :) Always remember how much love God has for you and how much hope we can have through Him!! 

Love,

Sister Wilson

Moroni 7:41"

So Blessed

Here's Nicole's email from February 29th!

"Happy Monday!! 

     This week I have seen how blessed I am. I just want to start this letter with my testimony. I know without a doubt that we have a Loving Heavenly Father. He is real and He desires more than anything to bless us. I know that hardships in life are only for our benefit and are meant for us to learn and grow!! I am so grateful for Him!!! 

     Tuesday night I had one of the most powerful lessons I've been in. We were seeing Andy and Aranza, the 7th Day Adventist family we met a couple weeks ago. We went in there and their friend, Tyler (who is also 7th Day Adventist) was there. We started asking them about the Book of Mormon and how their reading of it went. Andy started telling us about all the things that he sees wrong with it and how it can't be true. As we tried to help him understand it a little better, his friend backed us up! Haha, it was pretty cool. We were asked to show them how the Bible and Book of Mormon compliment each other. We showed them a couple scriptures in the Bible that talks about the Book of Mormon and then stopped. Because the best way to know truth is through the Spirit, Sister Foo and I just started testifying. We testified of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. Then we were asked how we came to know it's true and I got to share and testify of my conversion while Sister Foo got to share and testify of her experiences as well. We were then asked to share our favorite verses in the Book of Mormon in which we did and testified of! The Spirit there was so strong, I know they all felt it! The Spirit not only led our words, but led their questions in which we could then answer with conviction. Even though they aren't quite ready to accept the Restored Gospel, I know some seeds have been planted. I have gained a better understanding and witness of the importance of the Holy Ghost. God really is leading the work...He leads everyone involved, both the missionaries and everyone we talk to. I am so grateful for this great work!! The church is true!! 

     Wednesday after lunch, Sister Foo and I got locked out of our house. We left the car/house keys inside and Sister Taylor had just left to do some Visiting Teaching. Haha, the best part? We had a container with soup we just made for a sick investigator and we're just strutting down the street with our coats in one hand (it was a beautiful, warm day) and a container of soup. It was pretty funny and we had some awesome members help us out with delivering the soup. It all worked out perfectly though because as we were walking home to see if Sister Taylor was home, we saw our neighbor across the street outside. Missionaries talked to her in the past but haven't been able to catch her because of her busy schedule. We've been trying for a while to meet her and haven't been successful...until today. We talked with her and gave her a Book of Mormon!! After talking with her, our member pulled into the driveway of our house and was able to let us in. It was perfect timing because she was going to go get packed and then head off for the rest of the day/evening to stay the night at her son's house!!! God's plan is so perfect!!! 

      Thursday was weekly planning.

      Friday we met a less active couple that we'll get to work with regularly and we're very excited!! We haven't had a lot of chances to work with less actives and so this got us pumped! 

      Saturday we found 2 new investigators! The first we met because we got lost while trying to find someone. Her name is Cecile. She has a copy of the Book of Mormon already and said she's open to hearing what we have to say :) The next investigator is William Fager. His wife is a less active member and has a desire to come back. Because of their awesome Home Teachers, William wants to be baptized!! We're so excited! They both have agreed to take the missionary lessons and we're over the moon excited to start teaching them! God is preparing His children in the Nine Mile Falls area to accept His Restored Gospel!! We are so blessed to be here =)

       Yesterday we had a remarkable church service. We had our Bishop address us along with our Stake President. My testimony of the priesthood has been strengthened incredibly and I just love that God loves us so much to give us that gift! I know it is the power of God and that it's given to the men of the church for the benefit of all God's children! How merciful He is! I love you all and hope this week is great!! 

Love,

Sister Wilson 

Alma 26:16"

Happy Rock 

Happy Rock 

Locked Out 

Locked Out  

Sad Rock 

Sad Rock  

Weekly Planning Fun

Looking Up

Here's Nicole's email from February 22nd.

It was another good week. :)

It's crazy to think she'll be home in 2 months!

Read what she had to say below:

"Hello family and friends!! 

     First, I need to freak out for a second.....16 MONTHS!!! WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE????? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.....okay, I'm done

      This week we saw lots of miracles. We met some awesome people and set up some return appointments. We even found some new investigators =)  This week we'll have many opportunities to find even more investigators and I'm really excited....things are looking up!! 

     Katrina is still doing well! She's still battling cigarettes, but she's getting there! She's made so much progress so far and I couldn't have been happier for her!! 

     Ashlee is doing well too....still trying to get her to come to church again, but she's more diligently reading the Book of Mormon and loving it!!! She's finding answers and seeing her needs be met through the Book of Mormon and it's such a testimony builder to me!!! I love the Book of Mormon and I know it is the word of God comparable to the Bible! 

    This week we found an awesome potential! Her name is Bella. She's 13 years old and so cute. We'll be seeing her tomorrow after school and I can't wait :) I hope we'll be able to teach her and her big family and help them to come closer to Jesus Christ, our Savior. 

     A beautiful thing happened in the Nine Mile Falls ward. The Beckman family (just returned to activity a year ago and their kids who weren't baptized yet got baptized last March) went to the Temple and got sealed for time and all eternity!!!! What a beautiful event!!! They were all so happy and it's so exciting to see the Spirit that they have (: I'm grateful for Temple work and for the promises of the Lord!! God is so good!

     The greatest thing about this week was yesterday. We had a great lesson with this guy named Bill and his wife Vanessa. We met Bill about a week ago and asked if we could come share a message with him. He said he was getting baptized in a baptist church. We said it's awesome that he's taking that step to follow Christ and asked again if we could come by and share a message with his family. Haha, he was surprised we asked again after knowing about his baptism, and thought there must be something to our message for us to ask again. He told us we could come by another day :) We got our appointment set up and saw them last night! It went so well and the Spirit was definitely there! Our member who came with us was awesome and strengthened my testimony of member missionary work. I'm grateful for the members of this ward and all that they do for us! I'm thankful for Bill and his willingness to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. I'm thankful for my calling and for my Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. I love Him and know He loves me. I know He loves all of you too!! I hope you all feel His love this week!! 

I love ya'll!! 

Sister Wilson"

Miracles Miracles Miracles

Here's the email we got from Nicole on February 16th.

It sounds like she had a fabulous week!

"Howdy everyone!!! 

     This past week was a week of miracles, big and small! My testimony has been strengthened so much this past week, I feel so truly blessed and very happy!! 

     So Katrina is still strong. It's been a really neat week with the Cole family. We had a lesson with them early on in the week and as we were talking, Seth (Katrina's husband), got emotional. I have never seen him get emotional!!! It was so cool to hear him reflect and think about where the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ has brought him. The Spirit was so strong and he testified!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhh....... I just love the change the gospel brings into our lives!!! Katrina is feeling and seeing those changes too and it's great to see and to change alongside them. The day this family gets sealed will be one of the happiest days of my life (:

     We saw Ashlee a few times this week too. She is awesome!! She's been having a hard time reading the scriptures and getting in that habit. She was very inspired one day and asked us to assign specific chapters for her to read instead of just committing her to read. We did and when we came back the next time, she had the Book of Mormon out and all highlighted and marked up and talked about all the extra chapters she read!! Haha, she didn't even want to read at first, but once she started, she didn't want to stop!! I love the power the Book of Mormon brings!! I know that it is true. It is the word of God and it brings us closer to Jesus Christ. It is to be read ALONG SIDE the Bible, not instead. It compliments the Bible and supports it in every way. I invite all to read it!!! 

     Sunday we had a really cool broadcast for Stake Conference. Elder Runlund of the Quorum of the 12 apostles resided and spoke to us. We had members of the 70 speak and it was very uplifting. What a blessing it was!! We learned about the importance of keeping our eye fixed on Jesus Christ and the different ways we can do so. We're promised that as we do, we will be able to withstand the "plan stoppers" that life throws at us. God has a plan for each of us individually. Satan knows that and is doing all that he can from stopping the progression of this plan. We can get rid of the "plan stoppers" as we have Christ be the center of our lives! 

      Yesterday, we did some more tracting and met this awesome family!! It's a man named Andy and his daughter Aronsa (not sure how to actually spell the name or pronounce it). They let us right in and allowed us to share the Restoration with them! They're excited to read the Book of Mormon and we can't wait to go back! They're currently 7th Day Adventist and are super sweet!! I can't wait to see where they go! I know the Book of Mormon has strong spiritual convincing power!! 

       And today.....we went shopping for our groceries and a member from a nearby ward came up and paid for all of us. It was such a blessing. I love all the miracles that God shows me every day. This truly is the best calling anyone could have and I never want it to end! :) I know this church is true. I know that having a knowledge of the Restored Gospel brings lots of hope and peace into our lives. I pray everyone will take the time to see the miracles and blessings received every day, to thank God for all of them, and to try to live life a little bit better to show Him your appreciation. Greater blessings will come!! I love you all!! Have a blessed week :)

Sister Wilson"

Happy Camper!

Here's Nicole's most recent email home! Enjoy!

"Happy Monday!!! 

    So we got our transfer call last night and WE'RE BOTH STAYING IN NINE MILE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhh...I am such a happy camper!! I love it here so much and feel truly blessed to be here again! 

    So this past week was really good! We had an awesome church tour with Jhamee! She said she will for sure be joining us at church sometime soon and that she'll most likely come multiple times. She's so open, has lots of great questions, and is sincerely searching!! 

    We also picked up a couple new investigators named Bob and Brandon. They were a referral from a member and they are so awesome!! They are searching for truth and want to make God a bigger part of their life. They are taking everything in and are excited to read the Book of Mormon. Unfortunately, Brandon had to go to Indiana the other day for about a month for some work. Good news though, is he was really bummed to have to stop meeting with us...after only ONE lesson!!! That's how awesome they are!! AHHHHHH I LOVE THESE PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      The greatest news of the week, though, is Katrina. She told us on Friday that she bought nicotine patches to get herself off of cigarettes. She is officially on day 3 of no smoking. She is anxiously looking at baptism dates and is so happy and excited to finally be able to make that promise with God. Words can't even begin to describe how I feel about that family. The progress they have made is so inspiring and amazing to see. 

     Those are the basic highlights of this past week. The area is picking up and it brings me so much joy to be here. I know this is the Lord's work. I know true happiness comes when we are sharing His restored Gospel and living it ourselves. It changes lives. It makes us better people. It brings us closer to God and His Son, Jesus Christ. It enables us to become more like Him and to be able to one day enter back into their presence. I love Him. I love these people and this calling more than anything. I pray ya'll will take the time to ponder on all the blessings you've received at His hand and give back to Him by sharing them with others. No greater joy comes then when you are serving God's children. I hope everyone has a great week....I sure will :) 

Love, 

Sister Wilson

p.s. sorry for no pictures this week....I'll do better!!"

A Really Good Week

Here's Nicole's email from this past Tuesday! :)

"Hey Everyone!! 

     This week was so good!!! I went to the Temple again today, which is why my pday was moved :) It was awesome...like always! 

     So last Monday we had a Family Home Evening with Katrina. She taught us the message of the Restoration. It was so awesome to hear her testimony!!! I love them so much more than words can describe!!! 

      Tuesday we were in River Ridge and we talked to a lot of people. We love River Ridge so much and hate the thought of losing it....thenWednesday happened. We found out Wednesday night that we're losing River Ridge...effective immediately!!! We were so sad!! Some other elders are taking over now. It was short lived, but it was great! On the bright side of Wednesday, we had a lesson with Jhamee again and she's so awesome!! She has great questions and is really searching! She's going to start reading the Book of Mormon!! We're even going to give her a church tour with Bishop tomorrow and we're so excited!! She's progressing and is loving the message. She believes Joseph Smith to be a prophet and feels good about the things we've been sharing with her!! God is working in her life!! 

      Thursday we gave all of our River Ridge stuff away to the elders :(

      Friday-Saturday we had an exchange! I stayed in Nine Mile with Sister Kruitbosch! I love her!! We had a fun time together and I learned a lot about how I can improve to become a better missionary!! 

      Sunday was weird with only attending one ward. But, it was a good weird! Nine Mile is starting to pick up and we're getting more potentials and finding more investigators! I'm really excited to see where God's going to take this area!! 

     This past week was actually really really good! We talked to a lot of people and are getting better at talking to EVERYONE!!! It makes me so happy to say I'm talking with everyone about Jesus Christ! I feel so accomplished and like I'm really fulfilling my purpose!! I love this calling more than anything in the world!! This Sunday is transfer call/ doomsday. I'm anxious to see what will happen. I love it here. I love all the people I've been blessed to work with and I look forward to seeing what's going to happen for the area's benefit!! I love you all!! Have a great week!! 

Sister Wilson"

 Cole Family

Cole Family 

Sister Kruitbosch 

Temple