The End is Nigh!‏

Hi-ya Family and Friends,

 

I can not believe that this is my final email as a full-time missionary. I can't think of anything to say really. To be honest this week was dead hard! Many of you emailed me and said that this week will probably be an emotional roller coaster. Guess what? You all were right :) It certainly has been and I feel Satan likes to play off of that. Which is extra annoying but no worries, I made it through!  The hardest part of course is thinking of leaving all those I have met on my mission. I am going to really miss SO MANY people! Kirsty and her two nieces, Dee and Alisha all came from Falkirk yesterday and visited me at church yesterday. Definitely bitter sweet. I am going to miss them so much! But it is okay because Alisha and I have a Skype date set up for Saturday! But there have been so many others throughout the last 18 months that I am going to miss. But coming home is something that I can't avoid and something I am feeling more settled with. I don't want you all to feel like I love you less or don't want to see you because I most certainly do but I have come to love being a missionary! 

I am just going to leave you all with some of my over all thoughts and testimony. I am sure you know that I struggled at the beginning of my mission. The rules, culture, and many other things were new to me and became really hard. But God sent me companions that I need at the time and members as well. I firmly believe that God sends people into our lives to help us with different things. So many of my companions have taught me a lot. But through much trial and error on my mission I began to see how to regonize the spirit and use it to do the Lord's work. Doesn't mean I always followed it but that taught me how crucial it is to follow the promptings we get! Once I came to understand things and acted on them, that is when I started to enjoy my mission. Still had hard days and weeks but it started to be worth it. Loving the people made things so much easier. I am grateful for the opportunity to see changes in myself. Mostly in my testimony. I have come to really love The Book of Mormon and the words of the prophets. There is so much wisdom in them all. I also realized that God just doesn't hand us things. We need to work for blessings most of the time. I realize it is because it is through the work that we learn and we appreciate God more. I love my Savior and Heavenly Father and for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. The things taught in Christ's church are to bring us happiness. Lasting happiness! How grateful I am to learn these things. I am humbled and so very grateful that a mission was part of God's plan for me. Specifically a mission in Scotland and Ireland. I will forever love the Irish and Scottish people! See or talk to many of you soon!

Love you all to bits,

Sister Nicoll   

Testimonies!!!! My fav!!!

Dearest Family and Friends,

 

Another fast week has past! It keeps getting sadder and sadder. I am excited to see family and friends ESPECIALLY for the holidays. But as we all know what I am experiencing is a once in a lifetime chance. I haven't cried too much because I think God has truly blessed me with not really feeling that I am leaving soon. That is a true blessing. But I do realise my time is short. I am trying to embrace all the wee(little) things around me. SCOTLAND IS ABSOLUTELY STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!! The bus rides from town to town are gorgeous! I love the accents still and the humour here. I have been focusing more on the people around me and the lifestyle here. I have grown so fond of the whole mission experiences. I still definitely lack in many areas but lets all remember Ether 12:27!

The most tender and one of the most hardest moments this week was with a friend of ours, Karen. Mentioned her last week and she met with us twice this week. Unfortunately she didn't make it to church but we hope to see her Wed. Anyways, we were hoping to show her the Book of Mormon DVD but when we tried it, it didn't work. Sister Pugh had the Restoration DVD(she is so great) and so we watched that with her. Pretty sure God had a few plans with that. One is she looked so happy while watching that and at the end she said that it was such a nice story and she loved it. The other was we were able to testify to her more about it and the truth that is again on the earth. It was bittersweet because I love the happiness that comes from testifying of the Restoration but I realized that, that was one of the last times I will be doing that as a full-time missionary. I didn't think it would be that sad but it was.

I have grown to love testifying to people! There is so much power that comes from testifying! I have a long ways to go til I have a perfect knowledge of just about anything but sharing my experiences and such open a way for the Holy Ghost to testify to people. It really isn't much about what we say if it is truth, it is more about the way we say it so the spirit can testify. We just need to be obedient and sincere so the spirit can testify through us and so others can feel our love for them and Christ. Many of us have what so many people need. We can feel the love of God daily if that is our focus and so many people need that love. They need that security. Well next week will probably just be a summary of my testimony and such. I love you all and I am going to go out this week and make the most of it and help the work of the Lord move forward. You all go do the same! :)

Love,

Sister Nicoll