Can't quite remember....?‏

Hi-ya Family and Friends,

 

So I can't remember much about this week. It is kind of odd.... But I will tell you what I can remember. Tuesday to Thursday I was on exchanges in Edinburgh with 2 sisters that have been out 8 weeks, Sister Clegg and Sister Larson. They are both great sisters. Sister Ricks got the opportunity to direct another sister around Falkirk. She is amazing. She is only 2 weeks out and taking control. So proud. :) I enjoyed the days there. A member in their ward told us about a few general authorities that have stayed at their flat before. Like Elder Holland and Elder Hales and how much fun they are. Then yesterday evening we were able to go to Edinburgh for a stake sisters night. The topic was temples. It made me feel so appreciative of how close the Mesa Temple was to our home. I long to be back to the temple and know it will be a wonderful day. But til then I will just prepare myself to receive those blessings. We were so blessed last night because I was debating whether or not to go because the train cost a bit but then a sister came to us last night and said she would give us a lift. Tender mercy. We got to meet with William again. Great man. He was closer to being to church but didn't quite make it out the door hahaha but one day. Maybe next week :) Though I can't remember what went on I know it was a good week. Also in case anyone wanted to know... yesterday was my 10 month mark! Wow!!!! Well I love you all and talk to you next week!

 

Love,

Sister NIcoll

Ps. WELCOME HOME TRACY AND MATT GARNER!!!!!!!!!! And this upcoming week... EMILY CARDITA!!!

I am going to look so good.....

Hi-ya Family and Friends,

Can't believe another week has flown by. Sister Ricks and I had another great week. It was a bit of a crazy week. We were able to meet with William (the man sis. R. invited to be baptized) twice. He is very kind and sincere. He wont commit to a date for baptism but I know that will come with more learning. He was not able to come to church because he feels pretty sick in the mornings but we believe in prayers and power of God, so soon he will be coming out :)

This week we also got in contact with a couple people who have not been coming out to church for quite a while. One lady we visited, we realized doesn't have a knowledge of much of the gospel, so we will be starting from the beginning and help her remember what she once knew was true. She said she would love to work toward going to the temple. So with that wonderful goal in sight I think we will help her come back and enjoy fully the blessings of the gospel. Then another sister meet us in a train station as we were going to Edinburgh and said that she wants to go to church but works all the time. So we will be going over hopefully soon to keep her updated. So I would like to go on a little rant here, since I seem to do that once an email. :) Visiting Teaching and home teaching are so important. I know with those living here and in Ireland and I am sure many other places, it is tricky and hard because of distance everywhere. But even a phone call to other sisters and brothers is so important. One of the greatest commandments is to love others. How can you show more love than to continually letting others know that you love them, willing to serve them, and help uplift them in the gospel. Many of those that have stopped coming out to church have not had contact with v.t. or h.t. for quite a while. Something to think about. Okay rant is done. As for my title of the email...... we walk EVERYWHERE! Partially because we don't understand bus routes and because we have a lot of finding time so we just walk to appointments. I swear we walked 20 miles at least the other day. My feet are so sore but it is worth it. Only 3 days I think this week did it rain on us. So not too bad :) But both times walking to church it rained and we have to climb a steep hill. We feel like legit missionaries!

One other thing to share from this week was Zone Interview/training in Edinburgh. I love the inspiration given there. We talked about filling our time with good, better, and best things. And President Brown talked about being missionaries out of obligation, duty or love. I feel I am moving toward out of love. It was been a wild but wonderful experience being a missionay. Also as I had my interview with President Brown, I made my decision of whether to extend or not. But I would like to tell the family all together on Mothers Day . Hope all of your week is good and hear from you next week!

Love,

Sister Nicoll

ONE OF THE BEST WEEKENDS!‏

Hi-ya Family and Friends,

 

Yep I am serious when I say that this was one of the best weekends. I pray that the rest of my mission has such blessings and miracles! Since explaining everything will take forever to explain and talk about I will give some brief over views and expound on some things.

1) Got to see Sister Harris and some other sisters that I love ALL day thursday. IT WAS SUCH A BLAST!

2) We were able to hike Pratt's Hill (Arthur's Seat). Which is very steep and hard to climb. So we could tell who really did affective work outs in the morning. We came to the conclusion that not many people do. :) But as we were up there President Brown allows us and the trainees to dedicate ourselves to the work. It was such a peaceful and powerful experience, to overlook Scotland and pray to Heavenly Father for help and promise to do all I can to do my part.

3) I was able to meet my wonderful new companion, Sister Amanda Ricks. She had read my mission blog before( feel super popular), so we had a bit to talk about. Thank you sis for doing the blog.

4) We got on the right train hahah. I was worried about that. :)

5) At the train station about 6 members greeted us, along with the elders that we get to serve with in Falkirk.

6) The members took us to our flat. And one sister even bought food to last us through the weekend. How kind is that?

7) Our Branch President dedicated our flat.

8) Sister Ricks came out prepared. She is willing to take anything on, so I make her do everything. Just kidding. But she is really easy to work with and has such faith and excitement. I love it.

9) They give a challenge out to new missionaries to invite someone to be baptized before sunday night. Well Sister Ricks took it on and we created the spiritual atmosphere on the street for this man. It was not awkard when she asked and he said he will learn and if it is true will be baptized. Super neat experience.

10) The Elders in the ward have taken such good care of us. They made appointments to meet less-active members and made dinner appointments for us that they would usually go to. And today we were short on food for lunch and they made us some sandwiches and things. Yep they are fantastic. I am excited to serve with them.

11) Then we felt we should turn back to a certain area we knew. As we stopped this man, we found out he has been less active for 30 years and has an active sister in Utah that has written him lately and expressed her testimony. He was hestitant at first but later on invited us to come back.

I love the miracles that Heavenly Father allows me to be apart of. Not every moment is easy but my goodness it is all worth it.

Funny story. We chapped into this polish man and had a small chat about God and his belief and and when we were leaving we did the usual and asked if we could pray with him. He looked around the flat (looking for an excuse) and simply said that he has to use the bathroom and then kindly shut the door. Wish people could be honest and just say no instead of lame excuses :) Funny though. Well ta ta for now ya'll!

Love,

Sister Nicoll

Sisters Nicoll & Harris on Pratt's Hill (Picking up Greenie Missionaries)

Sisters Nicoll & Ricks as new companions in Falkirk, Scotland

Overlooking beautiful Scotland from Pratt's Hill

Ashlee's Message to her Dad:

My comp is from somewhere near Salt Lake. Our new flat is kind of crappy but they did their best and were very nice. We can feel every spring in  the mattresses haha but so is life. The office is trying to get us some blankets to put on top. Our gas ran out yesterday so the flat was sooooooooooooo cold but we laugh it all off :)

the address is

118 comely place

falkirk

fk1 1QQ

13 new sisters came in. So 3 older missionaries had to trio train. But the sisters that are trio training are amazing. I love all the sisters here. It is weird being a trainer but really the faith of the new missionary works lots of miracles. I love that aspect at least. And my trainee is really good so no problems there. Also I am a great example. :)

WHY ONLY EVERY SIX MONTHS?!?

Hi-ya Fam and Friends,

Why does General Conference only come every 6 months? I could not get enough of it. Yep very different attitude then before my mission but hey change is good! Not sure if you could guess but my favorite was Sister Elaine S. Dalton. She mentioned Scotland and our mission motto. Then she goes on to do our part. I must say it was absolutely perfect for comfort and encouragement to keep on keeping on. But the two themes I heard throughout all of conference was about families and missionary work. The inspiration and love from all the speakers really touched me and I can not wait for the Ensign! One quote I loved, that i believe is from Elder Andersen, was about the influx of missionaries coming in. Went something like this. "Just like how God is preparing many more young men and women to preach the gospel, He is preparing many others to receive it" I love that and how true it is. One last thing I noticed is that with every talk the speaker gives a promised blessing somewhere in the talk if we apply what they teach. I loved promised blessings. :)
Alright now about the rest of the week. Friday was a really good finding day. I have noticed that when I talk with people I don't focus as much as I should on the Book of Mormon. Well on Friday I decided I would do that more. And it really did help because many people here have a belief in Christ and many other similar beliefs, so focusing on the Book of Mormon helped bring up questions and things. I have known this my whole mission but it was nice to get back to basics. One lady is a baptist and was happy to have more info about Christ and said she will show her baptist preacher. Made us chuckle because we are not very sure her preacher will tell her to read it. But we still hope and will go by her again and see what the preacher said :)
Moves call was last night. I hate the week before moves because I get so anxious and just want to know right away. Anyways we thought for sure Sister Tylka would be leaving but God has other plans. I will be going to Falkirk Scotland and training. So in mission lingo. White wash training. I am pretty nervous but excited. A new adventure for the mission. On Thursday we go to the mission home and climb pratt's hill with our new trainee. Should be fun stuff. I will get to see many of the sisters in the mission and it will be a great and crazy reunion. Hope you all have a fabulous week! I love you all!!!!
Love,
Sister Nicoll

Tracting in streets of Brechin.  Love the Scenery. 

YES I AM!!!

HAPPY BELATED EASTER!

Dearest Family and Friends,                                                                                            4/2/13

I hope you all enjoyed your Easter this past Sunday! It was a lovely one for us. Although Sister Tylka came down with a cold this week end, she felt well enough to go to church and have our dinner appointment. Danni, a recent convert, has not been able to make it to church for various reasons along with another recent convert, Eric. But yesterday they both were there! Along with 2 surprise less actives. But the best was Brian. He is Danni's cousin that we have been teaching. THey missed their first bus over but they waited another hour to catch the next one to come to sacrament. Oh it was great to see all our friends there. The ward is so great with fellowshipping and welcoming them in. That is one of the greatest thing to see as a missionary. We then had our usual dinner appointment with the Bishop and his wife. Delicious as always. But they found out I love lollies (popsicles) and they bought me some for pudding (dessert). It made me so happy! Of course our focus this week was on our Saviour. I love how my love for Him can grow each time I bear witness that He lives and loves each one of us.

One neat experience this week was with another one of Danni's cousins. We were at Danni's home teaching her and her cousin came up and told us about some of the hard times he has had in his life and wanted us to help him. We were able to testify about the changing power that the atonement can have in our lives. He is willing to try it out and wants to change his life around. It just felt really good to see that people can really recognized that we are servants of the Lord and are here to help guide them in the right direction and help them gain that changing relationship with Christ and Heavenly Father. The rest of the week was trying by people and meeting with my fellow sisters and brothers in Scotland. I love it here and hope to continue the work of the Lord. Oh and I got to play twister and a members home as well. There granddaughter was over who is about 3 and we had a lot of fun doing that. I miss simple games like that sometimes. But it is always more fun when I haven't done it in a while. :) Make your week the best you can!

Love,

Sister Nicoll