FUN ADVENTURES as always . . . 6.11.11

today we did a service project from 7:30 am until now with all the missionaries/sisters in the Trujillo zones (90 of us in total) we all had our yellow helping hands vests on and we planted trees in peoples yards so it was fun and an opportunity to contact others and represent the church in a positive social activity. these last few days, elder mcgrath and i have been traveling up north to each area in Guadalupe that will be going to the new mission and working with the missionaries and meeting with the local leaders preparing plans and making sure all are in shape and gaps are filled in fulfilling their callings because it is a District there and they fall under the missions direction. wednesday we had our monthly zone leader council and it was great. next week we will head to cajamarca and stay for 3 days and 3 nights so that Pres. and Sis. Turk can have a testimony meeting with all the missionaries, last interviews with Pres. Turk, and an activity, while we work half day with each area. it really is so sad and hard to say goodbye to the elders their, especially for Pres. and Sis. Turk (as their parents) and i have been so strengthened by the work we have been able to do with the new mission and all the missionaries who will be leaving because they really are some of our best missionaries and i know the Lord has prepared it in such a manner so that His gospel can continue reaching the ends of the earth. i love this work so much and know that it is the MOST IMPORTANT WORK on this earth.

will send pictures a little later, gonna go cut my hair, eat lunch, then in the evening we will attend a baptism and visit the new family we are teaching! pray for them and all those who are coming to know the Restored Gospel.

hope all is well in your homes

love you all,

Elder Nichols

Another Great Group of New Missionaries - 6.4.11

so this week more than flew. lots of meetings and crazy stuff with the changes. due to the increased amount of incoming missionaries we have tried new things with the changes to be able to handle the groups that are so big so this week we didnt have a transfer meeting. just a time schedule that each companionship would come in and leave there old companion and pick up their new one. it was layed out over and hour and a half. it all came out very smooth. now we are here in the office as 8 again with 2 who are going to form part of the office in the new chiclayo mission. good old elder mcgrath from carlsbad, ca who is just another one of my best friends. he is part hawaiian and lived their half his life and has a house there so i just might get to know hawaii some day and have somewhere to stay ha. so im training him and then when he goes the end of this month, my last two weeks i will also train the new assistant who will take my place. im gonna be busier than ever traveling and working with the missionaries that are in the northernest zones who are going to the new mission. its gonna be hard for them to part so we need to do all we can to help them keep their heads up and remember their purpose through enjoying just plain old hard work. (MY FAVORITE PART OF THIS TIME!) the new group of missionaries that got here this week were amazing and i love to see the new guys get out here and join us in this Great and Marvelous work of the Lord. they bring a special spirit and excitement with them and motivate the rest of the missionaries. so last night we taught a family of 5 Julio(dad), Janet(mom), Maricielo(daughter-18), Julinho(son-15), and two month old baby girl. they were great and accepted to be baptized, the missionaries in another area of trujillo had been teaching them and took them to church once and then they moved and we were able to meet them. pray for them and hermanito Carlos as well. its been tought to find him, and we know he is prepared and desires this True Gospel in his life.

I am so glad i am here in this wonderful land of Peru to share the greatest news that has blessed my life and the life of my family. i am also happy to know that this mission and decision to follow and bring others to our Savior Jesus Christ will never end, because that means that the happiness and blessings won´t end either. i love you all with all my heart.

miss you, will come back and write later.

Love,

Elder Nichols

MORE AMAZING STUFF 5.31.11

SATURDAY

welp! last sunday afternoon as my companion and i went to a few visits we had in our area, we were walking through a big oval intersection and as we had already passed tons of people without contacting them, as we passed an elderly man, i felt a strong impression we needed to talk to him. i told my companion we should talk to him and after talking with him for about 5 minutes and getting his information and fixing a visit we were able to teach him in his home wednesday evening before heading out thursday morning.

just so you can get to know him...Carlos Osorio (70 years old) lives alone and has been a single man his whole life. he moved to trujillo 20 years ago to live with his younger brother and in the last 10 years(don´t know exactly when), his brother passed away. as he expressed his love and appreciation for his parents and his brother(who he considered his best friend), he also shared with us that they´re the only thing he thinks about now. we were able to introduce the Plan of Salvation and after feeling the sadness and desire he had to be with them, i asked him if he had ever thought of seeing them again, or would like to, and looking down sadly, he told us that without a doubt that´s what he wants everyday, but the fact that they had passed away now, he said it wouldnt be possible. not once have i seen such a great change in ones expression as we explained that Carlos would be able to live with his family eternally. we were able to teach of Christ´s Atonement that allows us all to live with God again as eternal families and it was great to see the new hope in his character.

TUESDAY

That was the beginning of the draft I started Saturday and got interrupted by an emergency. I have so much more to tell you about last week and my trip to Huaraz but the time is so short and its not mine so I cant waste it. It´s 7 pm Tuesday and we just got back from full training and change meetings with the new missionaries and their trainers. There is an elder from Thousand Oaks and 3 other great north American elders, one from Kaysville who is Ted and Nancy´s neighbor haha. Crazy small world, but anyway, these last few days have been great and the new missionaries really impressed me and have taught me much in little time.

I know the Lord calls and chooses His servants through a living Prophet and that God continues guiding us through revelation in these the latter days. We all have the same blessing and privilege to receive personal revelation and inspiration from on high as we are obedient to the commandments, remain humble to learn and better our lives, and serve others with love in and out of our callings. I love and miss you all. I can´t thank the Lord more for my wonderful family and this, the greatest, blessing to serve in His vineyard.

May the Lord guide and bless you and your families in all endeavors,

Elder Nichols

5.21.11 HAPPY KYLE

well this week was crazy full of stuff on the to-do list. we had 2 zone
interview meetings and the big multi-zone conference with the big lunch
afterwards!
lots of things going on with the upcoming mission split and the next few
groups of new incoming missionaries are HUGE in order to recuperate the loss
that will occur in the split. in a week and a half we have about 20 coming
and only 4 going then the next change 32 coming and 12 going so we are
opening lots of areas and its a lot to do but all in an amazing spirit of
growth and realization of this marvelous work that we take part in. in my
position its been hard to face the fact that i dont get as much time to go
out and teach in my area and a lot of the free time we have to teach is used
visiting others in their areas, so last night i was able to visit Elder
Facer(financial secretary) from Idaho Falls and teach two lessons with him.
we first visited a man in his late 20´s early 30´s who is going to be
baptized next week, and we were accompanied by his cousin and mother who are
members and we taught of the Sabbath Day and I was so amazed at the spirit
felt in the lesson and the great things I learned from John and his desire
to really dedicate his life to following Jesus Christ. i am so impressed by
the fact that the smallest children and those who are recently familiar to
the True Gospel are able to teach me so much and help me in my spirtitual
and temporal progress. i hope you all keep the spirit of humility and
learning as you all have close relations to many little ones and those
without kids have their kids(classroom stacie!) and peter in all your well
educated co-workers who i am sure have much to give.

anyway, our second visit we taught a little old couple and as we finished
the short lesson about the Book of Mormon with this little old guy, i had
just been sharing with them that as the introduction states, within the Book
of Mormon, all men can come to know what they need to do to find peace in
this life and eternal salvation in the life to come. as i mentioned those
words and promised them that the Book of Mormon would bless them the husband
spoke up and said "well Christ came and showed us the way and we have to
follow Him" i was able to confirm his statement and invite him to do so
through baptism and it was so amazing to see how those special words of that
invitation made him smile and his eyes lit up as he said "YES, i HAVE to do
it" even though his wife was saying she was gonna wait longer to prepare
herself he was fighting(like grandmas and grandpas do) and he was insisting
that they had to do it because they don´t know when it will be too late. it
was a sweet little lesson and i just realized i haven´t shared with you all
my little daily testimony building experiences. i know this is the Lord´s
work and that He lives. I love Him and wish to return and live with you all
in His presence. may you all pray for me and the people i am teaching.
(Hermana Enith and Hermana Kimberly en especial)
Chao-Elder Nichols

HAPPY WEDDINGS - UNITING FAMILIES Love it - Love it - Love it!!!!

another week come and gone. it is going to fast. i actually still feel like a young guy in the mission and to be honest don´t realize that these many priveleges, blessings, and experiences will soon not be mine to count up, only re-count.
this last week we had our monthly zone leader council and i feel like it was a great success, and that we were able to accomplish all planned tasks and council on all necessary themes. it was a very Spirit-oriented meeting and we all learned so much. president gave us a doctrinal lesson about delegation in leadership positions. obviously applies to all Church responsibilites and callings. i have been able to study the new church leadership manual a bit here and there recently and can´t wait to put forth all my efforts in applying the Lord´s order and procedures in futures callings.
l am happy to inform you and thank you at the same time for your continued prayers for Cynthia(widowed mother) and her two kids. Luciana(17 year old daughter) accepted to be baptized this next coming saturday, April 23!!! we are hoping to be able to teach Javier(15 yr old son) today and invite him for the same day. the struggle there is that he studies in a military school where he enters sunday nights at 9pm, and doesnt return home til friday nights and last night when we went he was the only one home with an aunt but he was asleep. keep praying with us and i know the opportunity will present itself to continue teaching him.
also pray for Carlos, a man who lives here and has his family in a town 45 minutes away. he lives here and works in a little taxi, but many years ago went to the church in argentina, and i contacted him last night and invited him to church sunday morning and what do ya know? he lives in my area! so we have planned to visit him tonight and he said he has the time off to go sunday morning to church!
hope all is well in all of your respective homes. i am doing GREAT!!!! pray for the 3 missionaries in my mission who lost loved ones. they are so strong and such great examples but their families need our prayers. Elder Ralph(mom), Elder Qualls(stepfather who raised him), and Sister Bakaitis(grandfather).

i know that the Lord loves me, and that He wants the best for me. i am thankful to Him for the magnificent and exemplary family He gave me and can´t wait to see you all in a few weeks via Skype! ( MOTHER'S DAY - May 8th, 2011)

Just ran and came back from another massive marriage! 10 couples in total this time, and each marriage will prepare at least 1 or 2 individuals to be baptized today or in this coming week! i loved it. attached photos are of the empty cultural hall decorated for after the actual paper signing and legal part. the sacrament hall was full of couples and families plus there were over 22 missionaries who are teaching these people.
an inactive guy who i visited in my second area Paijan, was there to get married, so that his little wife could get baptized today!!! i am so happy for them, i love seeing the continued effort of my companions in the mission and the progress of people that i never lost faith or hope in!
just another testimony builder of the phrase "No Effort Wasted". similar to the experiences that nikki and heidi have just shared with me. love you all and miss ya.

Love you with all my heart,
Elder Nichols

3.20.11 Lots of Progress

so this last week we had two large leadership meetings. tuesday, all zone and district leaders were invited as well as all trainers, and some 2 or 3 extra missionaries who president invited. wednesday, was a zone leader council and we were able to talk about many things that we need to improve, learned from President Turk and the scriptures how to be succesful pastors/sheperds as leaders, and also were told how we as leaders are not immune to temptation and need to be the first in worry about leaving space for the adversary to enter. i know and see how true this is as members of Christ´s church and i look up to you mom and dad for your faith and continued strength in all the difficulties that you see and live daily. i know that it is only accountable to your love and devotion to the Lord, and i am so thankful for that example.

hermano máximo is traveling to argentina today so his progress is gonna be on hold for a while. he, being 81 years old, is taking his 19 year old daughter Maria Belen back to start up college. shes lived there her whole life and comes here for vacation. also, we have been visiting a sister who has been inactive for many years, and her oldest child manuel, can be baptized, but it is very hard to find the mom and dad and the same time. they get home between 8 and 10pm so if you can just pray for sister marianela and brother manuel her husband who is also inactive so that we can find them home together and help them return! last night we contacted some great future investigators and today we have a visit at 3pm with a taxi driver who we met the other day. then at 6pm we will be going to the Trujillo East Stake Conference adult session and tomorrow the general session. it is crazy because the 2 counselors in the mission presidency are gonna do sustainings to melchezidek priesthood via cell phone. huamachuco is now officially a branch because it is being changed in the stake conference and will now pertain to the mission and not the stake as well as the otuzco branch where is started my mission, is now gonna be part of the mission and not the stake! will see some old friends i have missed!! will send you all a little message in the afternoon. gonna head to the apartment and eat lunch.

chao, Elder Nichols

3.12.11 Changes week is over. . .

so this last week was a little crazy with the changes, some difficulties with missionaries like normal, and the struggle to help our investigators progress, while letting them use their agency and not get to visit them every day like we would like.
so this last week its been tough with Enith and Máximo, an elderly couple who we are teaching...the both who were Philosophy teachers and hermano Máximo has been studying his entire life reading ancient books, and other weird material to find out the entire truth of everything. i feel very sad because we have the fullness of the truth and we are trying to give it to him, and he also has touched the fullness now having his own Book of Mormon. it was perfect last night because he expressed to us his thoughts about although many people have great knowledge and discover many things, that doesnt suggest that they have or know the truth (odd...i know, i felt like he was describing himself). he said that the only way to receive that is by the Holy Ghost, when it guides us, so it was perfect and set up the stage for a great lesson. we feel much more secure after our lesson last night with the two of them and we helped them understand that only by and through prayer can we be taught the TRUTH by the SPIRIT, and that in order to receive the HOLY GHOST as our guide, teacher, and comforter, we need be BAPTIZED. i ask you all to continue praying for them, especially Máximo. they went to church last Sunday and we hope to see them tomorrow!
also, a little elderly man who was very ill in the hospital, had a niece i think who is a member. she called the zone leaders and asked them to come give the old man a blessing because he was going to have a surgery to remove an organ, and it was very likely that he wouldnt make it through the operation for his health and age. so they went and gave him a blessing, and the Lord helped him undergo the surgery and get home quickly strong and happy. so his daughter, Vilma, accepted a visit from us, and so we went last night to look for her, and found her house, two doors from our chapel!!!!!! we had a great little 15 minute "get-to-know-you" lesson and she was very welcoming and happy. accepted to attend church tomorrow and we hope to help her form part of the Lord´s flock.
we have been seeing a great improvement in the mission as a whole, and the majority of the troublesome missionaries, or disobedient ones, have just recently finished their missions, and the rest have shaped up. Satan is working extra hard on the missionaries here, knowing that a House of the Lord will soon be edified here, and wants to delay it as much as possible. i know that the Lord loves me and wants whats best for me. i am so thankful to Him for this opportunity He has given me to serve in His great work, see His hand, hear His voice, and feel His love everyday as i make touch-ups to my imperfect self. i love my Savior Jesus Christ and am eternally grateful for His Atoning sacrifice that allows me to repent, leave behind my mistakes, and through my faith and obedience to His gospel, become more like Him and continue to receive an abundance of blessings.

THERE REALLY IS NOTHING THAN BEING ABLE TO REPRESENT JESUS CHRIST AND SHARE HIS LOVE AND TRUTH WITH ALL. I KNOW WITHOUT A DOUBT THAT THE BOOK OF MORMON IS THE MOST CORRECT BOOK ON THIS EARTH AND IS THE KEYSTONE OF OUR RELIGION. I LOVE IT WITH ALL MY HEART AND AM SO THANKFUL TO KNOW THAT OUR HEAVENLY FATHER CONTINUES TO GUIDE US AND SHOW US HIS LOVE BY GIVING US A LIVING PROPHET AND 12 LIVING APOSTLES.

I miss and love you all. Hope all is well at home with all my brothers and sisters, their families, and all my extended family!!!!!!!

Elder Nichols