7 MONTHS BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!‏

Dear Family and Friends,

I have made it through 7 months. It has been 7 months of craziness and growth and just 7 months of nothing I have ever expected. But in a good way of course :) So there really is not much to report this week. I think the greatest highlight was exchanges! I was able to go to Limerick again and be with Sister Millward and Sister Shead. There is a trio there right now, so Sister Francis was here with Sister Garlock. Not that you know any of those names but that is what the exchange was. Both the sisters I served with were GREAT! I loved serving with them. We laughed alot and you know how I love to laugh. But it is always fun to go back to old areas and see what is taking place there. We did quit a bit of finding and I enjoyed it with them. We did what we call a "white board finding" in city centre. We wrote on white boards the question "What makes you happy?" and then had a few good conversations with people. Sister Shead and I are more shy when it comes to finding so we did it together and had some fun with it. Our favorite part was this older couple walked by and the woman just hugged her husband and said "my husband makes me happy". They both just walked on looking so in love. That is only a year away for me. Just kidding :) But it was really sweet to see that because the most often answers were either "nothing" or "money". I am so grateful to have the gospel in my life and know that, that is what brings me the most joy, along with family and friends. I love you all and hope that you have a great week!

Love,

Sister Nicoll

Sisters Shead, Nicoll, Millward on exchange in Limerick

IT'S BEEN GRAND!

Hello Family and Friends,

It was another grand week! One thing I learned is the effectiveness of former investigators. We were able to get in contact with 2 formers and we are now able to work with them and teach them again. I am pretty excited about that. But one other thing I learned is that it is really hard to keep an investigator. People seem genuinely interested in learning more but by the next visit they lose interest. What I have come to believe is that Satan works HARD on these people during that space of time. So working with formers we are able to have a fresh start and try again on keeping them strong. Life is so much harder with Satan doing what he does but when we do overcome his temptations and lies, we come out stronger. I know that each of us are stronger than him when we do the day to day things like pray, scripture study, and just doing our best in everything. Anyways..... I have one miracle story! There is a place called Balbriggan that is a 45 min train ride away and we decided to make Saturday our "Balbriggan day". The Limrick Elders told us about a less active they have been working with just moved there. So we went to his flat and met with him. His wife was there and we found out she is catholic but wants to be baptized  She told us this, with out us even asking her yet. She and  her husband both came to church yesterday and we are going to teach her again tonight. We are working toward the 16th of February! I am way excited and just keep praying we will be sensitive to the spirit to know in all ways how to help her be fully prepared to make that covenant. Same with all others that the Lord has prepared already. Well there is not much else to report. Besides I am in the ward choir. Only as a missionary in Ireland will I do a ward choir. And because my comp wants to do it and we have to be together 24/7. But it is a fun experience! One last thing. This week it has snowed!!! It doesn't stick to the ground but it is fun to walk through it. It is a bit chilly at some times of the day but for the most part it is bearable and nice! Hope ya all have a lovely week!

Love, Sister Nicoll

Sending my love from Ireland!!!!‏

Dearest Family and Friends,

It truly is amazing how each week our testimonies can grow. I love it. Doesn't mean our tough situations are taken away or that everything is grand but the Lord's tender mercies really lift us up and keep us going. I have seen it many times this week. An example is Wednesday. By lunch time both of our appointments for that evening called and cancelled. Probably one of my least favorite things. So our back-up plans were to find and try by a few people. We were tracting and we were able to find one young man who we taught about the gospel blessing families at his door step and he said that we could come back. He doesn't speak very good english so we are not positive he understands what we do as missionaries but hey we will clear that up next time :) But it was a blessing because we have been trying to show the Lord by our efforts that he can trust us to teach those in our area that are ready for the gospel, so we felt that this was Him showing us he trusts us. We then went by a less active who has a son who is 10 and has not yet been baptized. Missionaries in the past have worked with this family and had him near baptism but they just didn't commit to church. So we were able to meet with them and are working with the family now and working for him to be baptized on the 9th of Feb. He is super excited but we really need the mom to be committed to going to church with him. My testimony of the Lord will help us achieve things if we work for it and if it is a righteous desire. We were able to get Daniel (the 10year old) to church yesterday but his mom didn't come and from now on she needs to be there with them. So we are hoping to work with her and help strengthen her desire to come and help her boys. 

News from mission President.... "with all the new sisters coming in all of you who are in the mission on the 10^th of April will be training – some of you with two trainees. There will be more new sisters than we have trained ones. These are exciting times and we will have to open 5 new sister areas then – so a bit of whitewashing will be going on too.  Because the Scottish stakes have a lower number of missionaries per capita of active members this first batch of new areas will be in Scotland. Please prepare yourselves for these challenging assignments by studying carefully to ensure that you are the best trainer you can be – if these new sisters are not well trained it could seriously weaken the mission and we simply can’t afford for that to happen."Pretty exciting stuff happening in the mission field. I am sure it is like this all around the world. Not sure I am ready for it but the Lord always makes up the difference. I am sure I will only have one trainee because I will tell President that is all that i can handle.  

 

Now I would like to end by sharing some insight I loved from my study this morning. I read most of the talk "Trial of Your Faith" by Neil L. Anderson. This si what stuck out most to me. "These fiery trials are designed to make you stronger, but they have the potential to diminish or even destroy your trust in the Son of God and to weaken your resolve to keep your promises to Him. These trials are often camouflaged, making them difficult to identify. They take root in our weaknesses, our vulnerabilities, our sensitivities, or in those things that matter most to us. A real but manageable test for one can be a fiery trial for another." We are all different. We all have struggles and trials and somethings that are easier to others, seem impossible to us. I have seen that on my mission. But because of this knowledge and knowing that God wants us to learn and grow, I am able to focus on the big picture and really come out stronger each day. I just love the words of the Prophet and Apostles. I encourage you all to read them and apply them. They are inspired words that when applied with change your life. 

Love, Sister Nicoll

Cute Victoria posing by our Heart Attack

 I know not a pretty scenery but this was on Wednesday when we were on a spiritual high. Near the neighborhood where all the happiness happened :)

Good week to start out the new year!!!‏

Hey Family and Friends,

     This will probably be one of the shortest emails due to not much to report. The work is still going fine and the mission is grand but for the most part nothing to keep you interested  One highlight is that we were able to meet up with an investigator (who has learned a bit previously) that we have been trying to get a hold of for months. We met with him in city centre and got to know him a bit and answer some of his questions. He said he was going to come to church but unfortunately he didn't show up and haven't heard from him yet but hopes are high :) Talking to more strangers is getting better and this week had a few good lessons with strangers on the street. 

     Funny but neat story from last night... We were going to try and see a less active after our evening appointment. As were leaving the appointment one of the sons was walking with us because he had to go to the store. He is about 15 years old. We told him that he should stop someone and give "mission life" a try. He said first he would want to see us do it. So we stopped the first lady we saw and started talking to her about the gospel. Found out she had heard a bit about the church when she lived in Brazil and agreed to meet with us and learn more. We were able to pray with her right there and she is now a new investigator :) If not for that boy encouraging us to do it, we may have not stopped her and just walked and talked to him. Love little miracles like that. 

     Fast Sunday was wonderful too. I love fasting now. The difference of now and before is that I really take the effort of remembering constantly what I am fasting for and doing my part of making it possible. I love Christ's church and his gospel. Following what it teaches may not bring immediate joy but it surely does bring eternal happiness. I love you all and hope you have another fantastic week.

Love Sister Nicoll

WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON!!!‏

Dear Family and Friends,

I LOVED CHRISTMAS!!! Being able to talk to you all was definitely the greatest gift! I have got the greatest family and friends EVER! And Landon and Lexi are still the cutest and will be til I have my own kids . Can't believe Lexi is crawling! But it was just a wonderful blessing seeing and talking to you all. Just the boost I needed! 

As for this past week... it is a bit of a blur. So I will tell what I remember. Monday evening we went to a single sister's home, Dorrie Weldon, and her brother (who is not yet a member) was there. So we were able to do a lesson about Christ with them and bring it into the true holiday spirit. We invited him to church ans he said he will try to be there. That will be wonderful! Christmas eve is when we opened all our gifts also. We were SPOILED! Many members gave us gifts and our families were also generous. We were blessed. As for Christmas day... the buses don't run so we had to plan smart. Thankfully the Ottoson family in the ward is so kind. We walked to the church (50 min walk) and they picked us and the Elders up and took us to their home. We had a good lunch with them and watched Kung Fu Panda. I must admit I did miss my movies so that was a nice treat. We also played a bit of Phase 10. Brought back some good memories of up north. Then Bro. Ottoson took us to Babs where we had a good dinner, watched Brave, and enjoyed our skype calls with our fams. Not sure if anyone knows but Dec 26th here is also a holiday. It is called St. Stephens and it is another day off for everyone so we got the day off also. It was rainy most the day so we postponed our hike with Sean for this coming Monday and our other recent convert Gabrielle will be able to join us too. So that will be great! We had to be in our flat or at a members that evening and another single older sister, Sister Beldon, invited us over for dinner. Traditional irish meal: Potatoes, sprouts, turkey, carrots, and stuffing. SO YUMMY! So that is my holiday week! Next week is a bit weird as well. Sunday we will find out moves. Monday will still be our p-day, so I will be emailing monday, I know I told you Wednesday. Monday because of all the parties we have to be in our flat by 6. That will be a long night. :) Tuesday it is members only. Wednesday it depends on if one of us is moving then it is a moves day but if not it is a proselyting day. After that is normal. 

As for the work... going well. Victoria Aliphon is still good for the baptism tomorrow. We are so excited for it. Yesterday was her interview and when she came out she was just beaming and proudly said that she passed. We found a white dress that fits her well and that just made her day too. Her brother will not be able to make it so I am the back up speaker. I feel honored being apart of it and working with this family. They are so wonderful. Lately we have not been having real good success with investigators. We find that people will talk with us and maybe have a lesson on the street and set up another time to see them but they never show or it is a false number they give us. So this month we both fasted that each week we can find 2 new investigators. In the past we would not have that. But as we have put the faith and work into it, we have found success. The Lord is in this work and I am glad that I am able to be apart of it and reap the blessings of it also and see others enjoy the blessings and joy that I gain from it. 

I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful New Year's day!!!

Ready for Dodgeball at Zone Development

Christmas Eve

Ashlee Scores for Christmas

Love, Sister Nicoll

HAPPY NEW YEAR YA'LL!!!!‏

Dear Family and Friends,

It is now 2013! Hope you all have some goals and resolutions set for the new year that will make you a better person and hopefully bring you closer to Christ! One of mine is finishing Jesus the Christ this year. I am now one page 3 and I started it in yesterday's study. Reason being I am really wanting to understand it and there are many words to look up but I have already loved it and know that I will understand the role Christ plays in all of our lives but specifically mine. I am excited!!!

The baptism this weekend was BEAUTIFUL! The spirit was so strong. I couldn't keep a smile from my face (nor would I want to) as I watch Victoria and her family that night. Sadly her dad decided to not come but the rest of the family was there. I got the opportunity to bare my testimony about baptism and speak specifically to her. Such a wonderful experience to congratulate someone on taking that great step forward into returning to our Heavenly Father. She was beaming all night long. I loved that evening. A prayer was answered for us that night. We have been having problems with the font and getting warm water, it has been freezing the last two baptisms that have taken place there. We prayed for it to be warm or for us to know how to make it bearable. So we set aside time for us to boil water and fill it up with warm water. Lo and behold our prayers were answered and the heater was working and the water was warm. It was also tinted green for some reason but warm nonetheless. I know it part of it was because we put for the effort and showed God that we were willing to put for the work to make this event wonderful. I was so happy about it all. Her confirmation blessing the next day was so sweet and powerful as well. I am so blessed and thankful to be apart of it all. 

Monday Gabrielle (recent convert) took us around town to see the sites and take us our for dinner for our p-day. She is so great. We had so much fun with taking pictures all around town, eating and hanging out at the huge disney store. Dublin is a great place to be! Oh which reminds me... moves call.... I am staying here in Dublin with Sister Garlock. We are super excited!!!! I love her alot and know it will be good to stay with each other and learn more! By the end of this transfer it will be 6 months in Dublin. Not too bad! :) 

Yesterday was so much fun! We went to a member named Sharon and her daughter Stacie's house. We had a yummy lunch and a good game of chess and then headed over to Babs. There we watched Heavyweights (still love that movie everytime) and then had a dance party to church music of course, enjoyed a great meal and each others company. Great start to the new year! That is all I have to really say for now! I love you all! Here is a quote that I read from an amazing article, that I love.

"When he says 'come follow me' he means that he knows where the quicksand is and where the thorns are and the best way to handle the slippery slope near the summit of our personal mountains. He knows it all, and he knows the way, he is the way."

           "Come Unto Me" Elder Jeffery R. Holland Ensign April 1998

Love, Sister Ashlee Nicoll