Christmas

HEY FAM! :) 

That was so fun seeing you all this last week! Definitely the best Christmas present!! 

Well this week, was awesome celebrating our Savior's birth.  The people here were so nice, and a lot of the members gave Hermana McKrola and I a bunch of nacatamales.  Super nice of them.  During the 24th we made some cookies and brownies from our fam who sent us some mixes in the church and took some to the members and some to our investigadors and less actives.  People loved them! We stuck in a picture of us in front of the Christmas tree too with the cookies, and people liked the picture more than the cookies.  The people here are so giving, and are such an example to me of charity.  We also sang songs with our ward Monday night at the park, and it actually turned out a lot better than I thought!  I was surprised though that most of the ward didn't know a lot of the Christmas hymns, so we sang about half of the ones I printed off of from the Hymn book. haha But people liked it, and we had a small crowd there in the park.  Mostly just of the other members from our ward or the other ward, haha but its all good, the ward liked the activity. 

We are teaching right now sweet N, who we found while searching for one of our contacts a couple months ago.  That actually happens a lot.  There aren't addresses here, so when we go search for our contacts, we actually end up finding someone else who is positive and we teach them instead.  But she is reading the Book of Mormon, and is pretty interested. The only problem is that her husband is against her going to church. He always leaves when we come to meet with her too. We are so sad. :( But we are still teaching her, and hoping and praying that we can meet him later.  This week we also did an activity with the other Bishop who´s wife passed away, and his family.  We played that "what if" game with them with the papers where you mix up the answers... in Spanish it is "que pasa si..." they loved it! :) They look like they are doing so much better, but I just feel for them. :( 

This week was also interesting, Hermana McKrola and I met with some families that Hermana Garcia and I had actually been meeting with awhile back, but had dropped because they were not progressing or said that they didnt want to change religions.  These families are both so great, and I know that this gospel would bless them so much.  I dont think that they will get baptized soon, but I hope that they will with time, see and feel that this church is the church of Christ, and come to know of all the blessings we recieve of the restored gospel.  

Things are good in La Paz!  Christmas was weird without you guys this year, and the fact that it was so hot outside too, but it was good!  I wouldnt rather be anywhere else.  And though before the misison I thought that things would all go a little smoother and everyone was going to want to hear about the gospel.   And though I feel many times throughout the day disappointed in others, myself, or weary sometimes, I feel so happy at the same time.  I know that this gospel is the only true church on the earth in my heart, and am grateful for my Savior who loves and lives.  

Miss you guys! Changes are on the 6th of Jan, and it will be super rare if I will stay, but we will see!!  I would not mind staying in La Paz!  I love this area! 

Love you,

Hermana Nichols 

Tis the Season

Hey fam!

So I decided because it is just so crazy writing that I am going to try and use my time to just write and send pictures, and then I will just print out your emails and read them later.  :) Is everyone ready for Christmas? What are you all doing? :) Cant wait to see everyone this week!! WHOOOOO HOOOOO!!! :) We have a couple peeps from the ward who have invited us over to eat nacatamales. (big tamales) are the big thing here for Christmas.  They celebrate on the 24th here, and usually start at night on the 24th, and then the 25th everyone just sleeps. haha But I'm excited to try the nacatamales here. :) This week flew. 

Later tonight we are going to sing Christmas songs.. mostly just the Christmas hymns because no one could tell me any fun Christmas songs that they knew in Spanish. But we are going to go sing in the park with the ward, and investigators.  Hopefully it turns out okay! :) They put us in charge of it. haha

So this week, we had exchanges, and I headed to Cerro Grande, in Tegucigalpa. Wow the city is seriously a different mission.  But I liked it a lot better than I thought.  We took a bus to almost everywhere we went, and everywhere we walked was literally straight uphill.  I felt like I lost all the weight I've gained here. haha sadly no, but I felt like it.  I was on exchanges with Hermana Domingo from Guatemala, she is awesome, and I learned a lot of ways to use more analogies with people to teach so they can better understand.  It was a lot colder there in the city.  It is starting to warm up here though in La Paz, it has been pretty hot lately. 

Also this week, super sad, the bishop of the other ward in our building who we love!, his wife passed away this week of cancer. :( She had it for 4 years though, and she was really sick this last year. :( Their family is our favorite, and it was so sad.  We went and helped a little bit with the funeral the next day.  Funerals here are definitely different that is for sure.  We love the C family. I still need to get a picture with all of them and send one.

G was also baptized this week! whooo!! haha She was a contact that we found one day looking for E.  She has 3 little kids, and her husband lives in the States.  But the day was a little crazy.  Hna McKrola and I were worried she was not going to show up until a lot later, so we took a taxi over there after we filled up the font, to go get her and her family.  We helped her clean up the house and clothes and we got everyone in the taxi (all 7 of us) and made it to the baptism only 15 minutes late.  That was definitely a miracle. We are super happy for G :)

We are teaching her sister-in-law who lives with her who is 14, and her daughter who is 10 who we set a date for 3 of January to be baptized.

Hermana McKrola and I this week also gave talks in Sacrament meeting on Jesus Christ and His Atonement.  I focused in on how Christ came here not only to atone for our sins, but also to show us the way back to Him.  I love President Thomas S. Monson's talk Ponder The Path of Thy Feet.  It is so true, Christ was the perfect example for us, and was put in many situations that we likely still have today.  I ended with talking about the invitation He extended to us at the end of conference and how there really is no better time than now where we celebrate His birth, to follow up on the invitation to be a better person than we were when we went to conference.  I know that especially as we think about Christ and His example, we should this week try to walk more as He walked and look for ways to help and serve others.

My ward mission leader, oh hermano G, he heard Hna McKrola and I were giving talks, and he asked me if I could give a talk in Spanish. haha :) He said he could understand me after I gave my talk though...oh good ole hno G. :)

Still can't believe it is Christmas time here, things are good, and time is just flying.  I will end with this and start sending more pictures.  Hope everyone is well! I am super grateful to be here, even though sometimes the days feel long.  But I know that this gospel is such a blessing in my life, and there is a reason why I am here. :)

Thanks for the letters Jas, Kristine, Ben and Ella! super cute, and loved the quotes! I almost used some of them in my talk, but I knew it would take me too long to translate into Spanish. haha

See you guys this week!  WHOOO!

Love,

Hermana Nichols

Navidad Pictures

Felix Navidad de La Paz! 

Busy Week

Hey family!

Wow, what a crazy week this week!

I am writing a little bit late because we just got back from Tegucigalpa because I had to have the doctor clean out my ear.  He didn't even know what was in my ear, but yikes, I can hear SO much better now, and it doesn't hurt anymore! whoo.. super grateful.  Those cold showers are yikes well let's just say a big wakener in the morning, terrible. 

Love all the pictures! This week went super fast. Where do I start?  Well Monday we threw a big noche de hogar and invited our investigators and reciente conversos over to obispos house for a surprise bday party for the Elders since it is their birthday this month, that was fun! :) Unfortunately our investigators didn't end up coming, but we had the Elders' investigators there :) Also, I am just super grateful to be in La Paz, because Tegucigalpa is just a whole different side of Honduras, I wouldnt mind staying another change. :)

This week also was J's baptism!! Whoo!! He is super humble, and we are so happy for him! We were thinking we were going to have to change the date, but with permission from President, if they have gone to church 2 times they can get baptized if they pass their interview.  His baptism went well! He is in the other ward, because of where he lives, and the Elders told us that in their Ward Council they are going to work with J so he can get the priesthood as soon as possible and then be the new qurom de elderes president with the counselor being the Elders' new convert as well. haha :) The wards here are definitely struggling a little.

We also had our Mission Christmas party.  It was super nice! President Fortuna came out in the Santa suit at the end, we were dying, and Hermana Fortuna cooked this awesome meal for all of us!  We also watched Frozen haha but Hermana McKrola and I helped Hna Fortuna with prepping all the food instead. She is so cute.

Each zone did a talent together for the party.  Well it was only half the mission there, because they did 2 different groups.  But for our zone talent since Elder T is from New Zealand, well his ancestors are, he really grew up in Highland, but went to Cottonwood high school for football, we did the Haka for our talent., he doesnt know the Eldredges, I asked, but he said their name sounds familiar.  But we did the haka as a group and then sang Noche de Luz (silent night) haha I wish I could send the video, its pretty funny!  It was definitely the best one there.  Pres. loved it, and the missionaries too.

We are working with G right now for her baptism this next Saturday! :) Shoot, not much time left, but I go to close to Tegucigalpa for interchanges tomorrow! :) should be fun!

 

We also had our Ward Christmas party, and Hermana McKrola and I made 140 chocolate krispies for the dessert. People loved them! And we had Obispo go get the Santa suit from Pres. Fortuna to have Santa Claus come to the party.  The ward also loved that! One member said that was the first time St. Nicolaus came to their ward party.  aw.

And I wish I could send the video.  One elder dressed up in the suit, and comes dancing in with the candy, and the kids just MOB him! hahaha... I need to get the pictures from the other missionaries, it was classic.  One member said to me after that that was the reason St. Nicolas doesn't come to Honduras. haha :( oh man.

 

Little crazy pday today, but I miss you guys! love you all! See you soon!

Much love,

 

Hermana Nichols

Life in La Paz

Hello fam! Things are good here in La Paz :) 

The mission is setting new goals here and upping all the metas for like lessons taught each day, finding new people, and contacting. Whoa, but its good to get us working harder.  This week was Stake Conference, and it was packed!  Unfortunately though G, and J both couldn't come.  Sunday mornings are always long and crazy.  J said that he was going to come to church, and he usually does, but a half hour before the bus was supposed to come to get us all to go to Comayagua for conference he still wasn't there, and we were really wishing he had a phone or we had walkie talkies with him. haha So we decided to take a taxi quick becuase he lives far, and bring him!  When we got to his house, he was washing his clothes because he said he didn't have any clean clothes to go to church, and literally all his shirts were wet.  We tried everything to get him to come with us.  We even called the elders to find him a shirt to bring from the members, etc, but in the end he didn't want to come because he was dirty, and would feel bad going like that.  I was so bummed, because this means we are going to have to push his bapstismal date to the 20th of Dec. ;( Mostly I just was sad that we didn't verify with him before to get all his clothes ready before etc, just because it is something we dont normally think about. Also G, oh man, she has a new job where she works at this wine factory every day because they have to pay off thousands of Limps for her house in Yarumela so they dont lose it.  Her baptismal date is for the 20th also.  Yikes, sometimes I tell Hermana McKrola, oh man is this how our parents feel with us...? stressed? haha but its all good :) 

Things are good here, and I want to help our investigators so bad, because we love them.  We also said goodbye to E this week. :( He left to go live with his uncle in Comayagua.  We were so sad to say goodbye, but we sat with him at Stake Conference! He had bought new pants and shoes too! aw E, we talked with the new misisonaries who will be in his new ward.. though we didn't get our investigators there to Conf, it was AWESOME to sit with E. :) 

Thanks for all the packages! I didn't open some of the ones that were wrapped for Christmas mom and dad. :) I did break open the ones from Kristine and Karen though... haha thanks so much for the gifts and treats! very much apreciated! The members here love chocolate from the states, so we will be sharing some of it with them who help us out! :) haha 

Thanks for all you guys do! 

Love you,

Hermana Nichols 

G and one of her kids J. :) she's so cute.

Thanksgiving

Hola Buenas! :) 

This week felt a little bit longer than others, but nonetheless great! I read your emails later this week, and they were awesome! Thanks for all the support and sweet quotes. Mom, I used some of your quotes in our District meeting about trials in my spiritual thought :) I saw the elders marking the scripture in DyC 58 that I shared from you. :) Also last Monday after we wrote we celebrated our Zone Leader's bday at the church.  We totally played the candy bar game, well... with things that I bought from the Pulperias, but threw in like 2 snickers that were a hit! haha they were loving the game... we played with a coin I had from Guatemala. haha But I have a sweet video... 

This week, we visited where J works.  He gave us a tour inside of the buliding they are constructing, we loved it.  He came to church agian this week, and is progressing towards his date on the 13th for baptism!  Even though we teach him in his mom's house every time, he lives in the other ward, so we went with him to the other ward last Sunday, because he will be in that ward even though we are teaching him.  It all worked out.  We also went to present the Elders to J last night, and went to go look for his house for the first time.  Wow, sometimes I forget where we are.  This part where he lives is different than the other areas we are normally in.  His house is literally made out of cement and clay, and the roof of different tin materials.  Oh man, It is literally camping for them. But that is why J and the people there are so humble.

We also had Thanksgiving with Bishop and the district last Thursday.  He broke out the martinellis he brought from America, that was a good treat! haha and Hermana McKrola and I made these paper hand turkeys to write with them the things we were all grateful for. It was a big hit! 

We also went with E this week to teach some lessons.  It was awesome to have him teaching people how the Book of Mormon and the Bible work together, and how Jose Smith is a prophet of God, and how he was like the old apostles in the Bilble, so people could relate to who Joseph Smith is, and realize we don't  worship him.  People are confused about that.  E was great in the lessons! 

Also this week was the Primary program, pretty short, and we could hear the music louder than the kids were singing, but they were so cute! 

Also, later, somehow the sisters always get roped into watching the Primary for the activites at the church, and the last hour, Hermana McKrola and I were in charge of entertaining the Primary.  They were SO full of energy, and there were so many of them!  Sillas musicales, Simon dice, y duck duck goose, that we had to call (uno, uno, dos) because we didnt know how to say duck duck goose in Spanish, can only last so long... I'm forwarding a picture that Hermana McKrola snapped of me trying to quiet down the kids.  

Things are good here in La Paz! Can't believe that I have almost 5 months here in La Paz.  Definitely know there is more we can be doing to strengthen the ward, and bring others unto Christ.
Also, we teach a LOT about authority here.  Church is really just part of the culture here, and everyone has their religion.. mostly Catholic.  But in a lesson we taught with this family, we taught about prophets, and he said at first how he didn't believe in prophets.... Later though we started talking about the apostasy, and he said he had a hard time believing that if God loved us, why would he leave us without His authority for so long on the earth?  It was acutally a really good question, but we talked about the pattern of apostasies in past times, and how when people reject His gospel, He takes away the authority.  Our member that we were with, kinda went off in a different direction, but Hermana McKrola was going to say that really its not His fault, it was theirs, that they rejected our Savior, and that is why he took it away.  But do you guys have any good ideas or talks about authority or dispensacions, or apostasy because we teach on that a lot, or at least try to. We left a Book of Mormon with them in the morning, because we didn't have one with us that night, but we definitely hope they will let us back in.  People here just feel like they are content because they have their religion, and think that as long as you have God in your life, you will be okay, its not important what religion.  Oh man, its so frustrating, though, and we know what lesson they need.  Now we just have to find the balance of using the Spirit in teaching Lesson 1 about prophets, authority, apostasy.  


But I'm grateful for this opprotunity I have to serve Him fulltime, and for all of the knowledge I have gained here and am grateful for all of you and your support! 

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend! 

Love,

Hermana Nichols