Nick at Christmas

We didn't get an email from Nick last week, because it was Christmas Eve, and the libraries were closed. But a nice mom with a beautiful home invited Nick and his companion to Christmas 

dinner, took their picture and emailed it to us.

Doesn't he look happy? And full?

A Duck: Is he or isn't he?

Your son could potentially be a Duck. 

That is really awesome that Blake is going on a mission. She'll get home about 6 months after Cody. That'll be interesting. 

That is really sad to hear about Devin. Poor guy. He'll make it through. That must be hard. I can't imagine going through that. I said the word "that" 5 times in the first few sentences. Man, I cannot write anymore. Whatever.

Cal has a new coach. That's cool. It will be interesting to see Cal go from a primarily West Coast offense, to a high scoring air attack team. That is good that the Niners won again. Harbaugh hasn't lost 2 straight so far. Knock on wood. Go Warriors! Man, it is always a good year when they do well, granted, that rarely happens. Remember when they went to the playoffs and Biedrins ruined their season? Ah the memories. 

Things are going well here. We saw some total miracles last week. Everything is going well in Riverview. We had an interesting lesson with Roger yesterday. He has been going to his Mom's church the past 2 weeks, and when we were talking to him he sounded like he was fully invested in that church. Then we said "I got my answer". I thought "Oh no, we lost another one..." Then Roger said that he had a dream, and that he knows that our church is true. I be like WHATTTTT!!! He has received that sacred witness, but he still is trying to keep one foot in his Mom's church. He wants to get baptized by the restored authority, so he'll follow through with his date in January. It's exciting. We were also able to see Wilfred last night. It went well. He should be coming to church next week. We are being blessed. We met some really prepared people as well. I hope that I don't get transferred. I want to see my fruits. But, if God wants me to go somewhere else, it is what it is. 

Man, I finished reading Alma this past week. The war chapters should be made into a movie. They are super epic. Alma 62 is the battles of all battles. Kinda like the battle in the 2 Lord of the Rings. Wicked awesome. Now I'm in Helaman, reading about the Gaddianton robbers. Stupid robbers. 

 So that is the big news from KCMO. Other news, it is freezing outside. Like really cold. The weather said that is was supposed to hit 12 degrees last night. People were right about the cold here, it hits you to your bones. 

I don't have much else to say. Have a great week. 

Love you,Nick
  

26 seconds from another tie with the Rams

Whaddup,

Stupid Freaking Niners. They need to win all of their games this month. Each one should have big playoff implications. Man, go Warriors. Those feisty little guys won't back down. I heard that their draft pick, Harrison Barnes is really good. 

Nothing too new with me. The coaches from Oregon and Utah have emailed me about playing lacrosse. So that's cool. 

 

So we were baptism-less on Saturday. The Hills have pushed back their date until the 19 of January. I think that it is a good idea, it will give them the time that they need. Luckily though, Roger got all of his weekends off of work. Princeton just got put on probation, so we have to go through a semi-lengthy process for him to get baptized now. We're looking at the first few weeks in February. I think that this will be good as well, he still has some things to work out. Princeton came to the Devotional last night, so that was cool. Wilfred is doing okay. He wasn't at our appointment though. He is hard to make appointments with sometimes. Overall, the work is going really well. 

We had a lot of work last week. It was nice. We are teaching a lot of investigators right now. It is sweet. We have been tracting a lot lately. I kinda like it. It can be pretty fun. Guess what, last week I had 2 dreams of the end of my mission. WHAT?! This can't be happening to me. Also, 2 people were like "when do you go home? You look like you've been out forever." Come on folks, I still got a minute. My companion is a good worker, so that's nice. So yeah, besides my constant inner battle of my mission age growing and growing, I'm doing well. Very excited for Christmas. 

The Devotional last night was boss-tyke. I really liked President Eyring's talk. Welp, enough of me blabbing. PSYCHE! We saw a total Law & Order scene in real life this week. We were trying to contact a referral, and while driving there, we saw like 4 or 5 cops with big guns and bulletproof vests about to kick a door down. I really wanted to stop and watch. We didn't. Safety! All that was missing was the iconic DUN DUN!

1. I think that statement about loving everyone is totally true. As missionaries we just have to take everyone as they are. You Gentiles can kinda pick and choose who you hang with, but we have to be with those who are ready for the Gospel. Therefore, we have to love everyone.

2. I mean I guess that family history is good retention aid. In reality, I've heard that the rate of activity is like 85% for new members who have taken an ancestor's name to the temple.

3.  The last lesson we taught was a lesson about the Restoration of the Gospel. It went well.

Alright fam, Love you like cray.

Love, Nick

Colorado says Yes

Hey Hey Hey,

That's good that Colorado State wants me. Don't blame 'em. Oregon sent me an email about looking at scholarships that I'll forward to you. 

That is cool to hear that Kaepernick is doing so well. He seemed legit in college, I guess it is all paying off. That stinks that Cal had to pay so much to Tedford. Oh well. Sounds like all is well in the sports world. 

It's good to hear that you made it through the drive safely. I've been having lots of dreams about the Bay Area recently. Weird. Did you gobble like a turkey during the trot? That would've have been very funny and embarassing for Chelsea. Does anyone still call her Chi-Chi? Kyle will most definitely be taller than me sooner than later, it's okay though, I'll still kick his rear. You and mom are turning into Sharyn and Grandad, true foodies. It's cool though. On Thanksgiving we ate with a Dominican Family. We had ham and chicken (because Hispanics hate turkey), and lots of good sides. It was a pretty basic Thanksgiving, which means super good. We had some Tres Leches cake which made me sick though. I guess our gene's weird onset lactose intolerance has hit me. Oh well. I'm doing better now, so that's cool. 

Yeah, we talk in 29 days. That's wild. It will be hard to set up because transfers are 5 days before the 25th and the Monday before is a holiday, so the libraries probably won't be open. I guess we'll see what happens.

The work is going well. The goal of focusing is helping a lot.We are teaching some great people.  We have quite a few investigators that are truly searching for truth. It is awesome. One of them, Wilfrid, is really exciting. He moved to the States from Haiti about 2 years ago. He is learning English so he has some questions about certain words and things, but he is really promising. We're hoping that he can come to the Christmas Devotional next week. You should watch that. It's gonna be sweet. So yeah, the work is great. 

Have you started decorating the house for Christmas yet? Did you get a new tree? You should. ha.

Concerning the death of Hostess, we heard about it quite a bit. We also heard that there were bids on eBay for $10,000 Twinkies. That's America for you.

1.   The Loyas' baptisms yesterday were awesome. Their dad wasn't able to make it. I hope that he got called into work instead of just not going. It was really spiritual.

2, The Hills will probably have to move their date back a few weeks. They haven't received an answer yet. I don't want them to make a big commitment like baptism if they don't know that it is all true.

3.The work has been pretty much the same since the sisters left. Nothing too huge.  

Everything is going well. I'm very grateful to be here, in this area, at this time.My comp is doing well. He seems more sure about being here which is good. At the beginning he kept mentioning that he was here because his mom wanted him to go. Now, he's here because he wants to be here. So yeah, that's all that is going on. Have a great week. I love you.

Love, Nick

Thanksgiving!

This Thanksgiving will be a Dominican one for me. A family from the Dominican Republic signed up to feed us. It should be fun, and tasty.

Sounds like everything is good on the homefront. That is pretty wild that Anna got called to Perth. Small world. 

Things here are going really well. We just had a Zone Conference last Friday. It was incredible. The theme was "Qualify for the Work" and we now have to memorize Doctrine and Covenants section 4 as a mission. Surprisingly enough, I still remember a good chunk of it from when Bro. Draper had us memorize it when we were Deacons. We were taught a lot about how the doctrine (the why) and the principles (the how) connect. It was just sweet, man. 

The work here is going really well. Mariana and Jossua are ready for Sunday. It's gonna be great. Roger Hill came to church yesterday and really liked it. He said that one of the talks was just for him. Then, we ate barbeque at his house last night. It was good. Too bad you don't eat meat. Princeton is doing pretty well. He didn't come to church yesterday and I'm not sure why. Hopefully everything is okay with him. We have a good amount of investigators with actual interest in learning, it is sweet. 

This past Friday night was the big ward Thanksgiving dinner. There were a lot of people and a lot of turkeys. Guess what? On Saturday, we found the most diverse street in Kansas City. On one street, we met some Africans, some Vietnamese people, a family from Assyria, and saw an authentic Italian restaurant. It was pretty interesting. KCMO is a pretty diverse place. It is kinda funny when you think about it because we are in the center of the continent, and there are lots of immigrants here. So yeah, life in Kansas City is good.

1. There is a lady in the ward who has a salon so I go there for free. It is very nice of her.

2. I wash my towels every week and my sheets every week. Relax, mom.

3. With Princeton's background, I feel like the Atonement and baptism are two things that really click with him. I mean, who doesn't want a second chance?

Oregon sent me an email about my transfer credits, I think I'll forward that to you. President Keyes already did the ecclesiastical thing. It took all of 2 minutes.

Man, driving to California. That's going to be a long drive. Have fun with that. Are you going to see anybody not family out there? Like Bruce? How is Bruce? 

That is a really interesting change to the Sunday School. I think it will pay dividends. I have been thinking, I don't have too much time left on my mission, and I need to focus all of my efforts on these next 9 months. I need to give my heart, might, mind, and strength to the Lord for a bit. It's the only time in my life I can focus like this. I'm so lucky.

Drive safe! Thanks for everything that you do. 

Love, Nick

49ers V. Rams

 Hey There,

A freakin' tie? A freakin' tie?!!! That's stupid. I've always disliked the fact that there is a tie in the NFL. What is this, the MLS? I could've told you that the ducks were going to score 50+. They're scary good.

I told my fellow elders about your goal to only buy gas once a month. That is quite the feat. 

Stake conference sounds like it was pretty awesome. That is really cool that he left an apostolic blessing on the stake. That is something that will last with the stake for a long time. 

It is good to hear that everything is going well at home. That is really crazy that DJ is home already. 

 Missouri decided to be crazy in weather again. Friday and Saturday were in the 70's. It snowed on Sunday. It was another 40 degree drop in a day. Crazy. 

Things here are going really really well. We had a great week last week. We have 5 people with a baptismal date and 7 investigators came to church yesterday. It was awesome. Mariana and her brother Jossua, are getting baptized on the 25th of this month. Another is doing really well, but he hasn't been able to come to church recently because of his job. In our mission somebody has to go to church at least twice before they can get baptized, and he's only gone once. December 1 is coming up so hopefully we'll see some miracles. 

Our investigator, Princeton, also came to church yesterday. He looked really happy to be there. It was sweet. I am really excited for all of the work here. Riverview is catching on fire. All of this work is really paying off. Us farmers and starting to see the fruits. I am really stoked about what is happening here. Also, the sister missionaries in our ward got nixed here. I'm not sure why, but there won't be sisters here for a few transfers. The ward seems kinda sad about it. So yeah, life is really good right now. No complaints whatsoever. 

1. Christmas Wish List: Some ties, a green one, a light-blue and black one, and a grey one. Also, I want a Johns Hopkins Lacrosse shirt. Size L. Nothing more, and my two front teeth.

2. Yes, mother, I exercise. We have some weights at our house and a bench press. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are biceps and back. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are chest, triceps and shoulders.

3. Favorite talk from Church yesterday: Yesterday was the Primary program. It was pretty good, no Kristine LaMay production, but pretty good.

Alright Familia, have a great week. Love you like Missouri loves changing weather.

Love, Nick

The Winner Is....

Okay- business first: I don't remember the ACT or SAT stuff at this second, but when I'm done I'll hop on and see.

All is good in the hood. Things are going well here in Missouri. The weather has been bipolar as of late, warm one day and then cold and rainy the next. Other than that, nothing too crazy is going on. 

We should be catching fire and having quite a few baptisms before the end of the year. Yesterday in Sacrament meeting, before people got up to share their testimonies, the 1st counselor was like "We don't need any soap-boxing, or to know how grateful you are for random stuff, please just share what you know to be true" and then sat down. It was freakin' awesome. It seems like people just go up there and say how happy they are and share pointless stories. I hope you didn't share some random story yesterday, otherwise this would be super awkward. Anyways, life is sweet in the streets. 

Transfers are coming up this week, I should almost definitely stay because I have to finish training. Unfortunately, the next transfer date is December 20. Yep, 5 days before Christmas. Crazy.

Elder Javeloza is doing pretty well. Some guy had a seizure in church yesterday, and Elder Javeloza looked like he was going to pass out. Nothing too crazy happened other than that, granted that was pretty crazy. They had to call 911 and have an ambulance come and pick the dude up.

Teaching has been going well. We have some really great investigators right now. Mariana and her brother Jossua should be getting baptized this month. Then we have some other good things going on that should bring us some fruits in December. Our hard work is paying off. I've gotten a lot more bold since being on my mission. I noticed that last week. There were a few instances when I looked back and thought "Dang, I wouldn't have said that 6 months ago." I guess the Lord works in mysterious ways, right? Guess who is sitting next to me right now? Elder Palilla. He is in one of the areas pretty close to mine now. Welp, that is all that I got going on.

1Iron chef Competition: We have a winner...................... Jeffrey Duke LaMay!!  He chose two of my favorite things: sushi, and Reese's. Know your demographic. I think I almost went into a sugar coma over Halloween.

2. We should have a typically freezing winter this year, yes. I think that I will be good with the things that I have. 
3. The sisters all had a pretty good week. i don't know what I did, but something worked. Hopefully we can keep the momentum going into next transfer. 

We get to talk to each other next month! 

Okay, fam, have a great week. Love you like the trees love shedding their leaves.

Love, Nick

GGGGGIIIIIAAAAANNNNNNTTTTSSS!!!!!!!!!!! I hope that you DVR'd at least the last game.

Too bad for Cal. They recruited like the #1 or #2 qb in the nation last year, so hopefully they'll be able to win some games next year. I'm wearing a red tie today to root for the Niners. I do it weekly, on the day that they play.

Yeah the number of days is dwindling away. It is crazy. By Christmas I'll be 2/3 done and by February my sister mission is over. The year-mark-out-of-the-MTC milestone was pretty normal. Nothing to crazy went down in the celebration seeing that there was no celebration.The time is going by really really fast.

It is really cool that Steven baptized my companion.  

I haven't taken too many pictures as of late. Sorry, I'll do better at that.

Guess how cold it is in Missouri? Freakin'. Guess how well our heater works in the house? Not. Guess what the amount of degrees it dropped from Wednesday to Thursday? 40. Wednesday was warm and muggy, Thursday was cold. It looks like the Midwest will actually have a winter this year.

It's good to hear that all is going well at home. Hopefully Devon doesn't get washed away by the Frankenstorm. We ate at Sis. Bennett's house last night. She does this thing with cakes where instead of using oil, she puts applesauce into the recipe. I highly recommend it. 

This past weekend was Stake Conference in the Independence Stake. It was really good. President Keyes spoke and said that the amount of missionaries will go up by 50 here in the next year. We'll have over 300 missionaries. That's crazy. The biggest mission in the world is about to get bigger. We were way, way, way in the back and this kid from our ward fell asleep on me. Kinda like when Devon fell asleep on that stranger on the airplane.

Anyways, the work this week went pretty well. We weren't able to see Princeton at all this week, but I think he's doing well. The Hills are doing great, and should be set for their December 1 date. We have some other baptisms coming up in November. One of them is Mariana, and the other is her brother Jossua. They are 9 and 10 and their mom in the YM president in the ward. They haven't been baptized yet because the dad didn't want them to, but now he is willing and open to it. Hopefully, it will soften his heart some more to the message. We are working hard and finding lots of people to teach. We should be seeing a lot of success in the coming months.

The district hasn't been doing too well lately. We are trying to figure out how to motivate the sisters and get them going. It's hard because with a district of elders you can give them a little more stern motivation like "Get to work", but with the sisters you have to be very nice. That is really all that is going on with me.

1. They don't even deliver pizza to our neighborhood. The mailman only comes if he has something to drop off. So no, there unfortunately will not be any kids trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. They all go to the rich neighborhood in the north part of the city because the Home Owners' Association gives the houses free candy to give out and they go all out with it.

2. We will usually help the members with what they need help with.  We find something new every week, sometimes from our meetings with the Bishop. We don't do anything too scheduled.

3. We have a full time car in this area. We share with nobody. It is sweet.

Concerning the college stuff, I think that once a week should be alright. You can use the myldsmail account.

Okay family, I love you. have a great week. Thanks for everything, the candy sushi was freakin' good.

Love you, Nick

Go Giants!

I was not aware of the Giants going to game 7. Go Giants. And go Niners. They needed a good win after that embarrassing loss.

I got your post card with the bogus information on Walt Disney's hands. Guess what? Walt Disney is from Kansas City. The building where it all began has lots of old school Disney characters on the outside. It's pretty cool but it is in an area that is pretty janky.

For the U of Oregon app, I think that is everything that I need to provide. Most of it is just my grades and whatnot. As long as you can pull all that stuff together without any necessary info from me, then please go ahead and send the application. This is stressing me out.

We saw a bunch of arrests this week. one of them we saw go down. It was like we were watching Cops. Bad boys whatcha gonna do? This area is crazy, but it is awesome. The ghetto is fun.

So I was reading the story about Edie, and it reminded me, I was talking with my comp, and he said that in April 2011 when he was baptized, one of the elders was Elder Schmidt. He's pretty sure that his ward is in the Carlsbad, CA mission. Tell Edie to ask Stephen if he remembers a Carlo Javeloza. Mormons: we're everywhere.

My world is going really well. We are totally blessed. Like everyone that we are teaching seems to be prepared for this message. It is awesome. I think that the Lord is really blessing us to find those people that have been prepared. We got a referral from the Gladys Knight devotional who wants to get baptized. His name is Princeton, like the school. His mom is a member, and he just got out of the pen, and he says that he feels something "special" when we come over. I'm really excited to see where it goes with him. The rest of our investigators are doing well. I think that the bold approach to teaching the Book of Mormon has been helping a lot. We have more people reading that Book of Mormon now than I've ever had in my mission. It's sweet. Cra'y cra'y on mommas, if I may go so far to say. Things are going really well. I'm happy. Life is good.

1. I will not imitate your sneeze in this quiet library and see if anyone laughs. I will not do that.

2. Our apartment is pretty clean. It could use a good sweeping, but it is not too bad.

3. Our last Zone Conference was on my year mark. We talked about helping our investigators progress.

 

I think that I forgot Brittany's birthday. I just realized that. Whoops. 

Welp that is about it, have a great week and GO GIANTS!!!!

 I love you, Nick

Gladys Knight and the Mishes

Stupid Niners.

Great Giants.

It's good to hear that all is going well at home. There is a member here who is from St. Louis and is a HUGE Cardinals fan. Needless to say, she told me that our teams were playing for the NL. Cool. Go Giants.

Dad, Mom says that you're trying to figure out the new Sunday School stuff. What's different in it now?

Mom, Mom, Mom, I don't think I'm going to be one of those guys who comes home vowing to never watch sports again.  It would go against the very nature of my being if I decided that sports were a waste of time. If I thought that sports were a waste of time, I might as well think that breathing is a waste of time too.

Things here are going really great. We have been finding people who are truly prepared to hear the Gospel. We have been focusing on teaching boldly about the Book of Mormon right off the bat. It has paid off immensely. If someone is willing to accept a Book of Mormon, they are willing to listen to us. It has been awesome.We have a lot of really solid investigators. I think that we should see some good baptisms coming up soon.

My comp is doing pretty well. He is still kinda unsure of himself, but he is working hard.

We had the Gladys Knight devotional on Saturday. That was incredible. I wish you could have seen it. They sang some soul-pumping gospel music. Man, that lady has got some serious pipes. Her choir is really good as well. She and her husband both bore their testimonies at the end. Cra'y cra'y on mommas (that's the new "it" phrase apparently). Then, to top that sweet thang off, we have received a bunch of referrals from the devotional already. Hopefully these referrals turn into solid investigators. President Keyes wants this devotional to have the same effect on the mission as the Temple Open House. He wants us to act quickly and use the spirit that the people felt to help them learn more about the church. I think it will work pretty well. We have been able to get some new people to church, which is always great. It is really hard to get people to church. I'm glad that we have been blessed in that category.

1. re:  Saying your dad died  when you mean your trainer finished his mission. The "dad" and "son" lingo is still used by some missionaries. I personally think it is stupid. It should be something more professional like "sensei" and "padowan" or whatever.

2. I'm not entirely sure what I will teach this week yet. Probably about Revelation through Church Attendance, because that's what the district can work on- getting investigators to Sacrament Meeting.

3. The St. Louis fans don't even hail in comparison to Giants fans. If I became a Cardinals fan, I wouldn't even bother getting on that plane next summer. I wouldn't be able to look Dad in the eye.

As far as business/sports marketing, it feels right. The doctor thing just wasn't clicking.

Okey doky family, have a great week. Love you.

Love, Nick

 

Conference Thoughts 10/8/12

Aloha from FREEZING Missouri,

 

This past weekend it got cold. Like really cold. Like in the 40's ALL weekend long. I don't think we'll see another day in the 70's until 2013. It might be a long, cold, icy winter. I'm glad that you enjoyed yourself in beautiful sunny California. There aren't really any cities better than San Francisco, so I'm green with envy, and frostbite.

 

NNNNIIIIINNNNNEEERRRRRSSSSSSSSSS.

Wow, 45-3. That is crazy. They destroyed the Bills. That Viking loss sounds like the best thing for the team as of right now. They needed something to correct, and they have that first loss out of the way, so they should go 18-1, right? (I accounted the divisional round, conference championship, and superbowl).

Yeah, so Conference was sweet. The age change is wild. There needs to be a lot more missionaries out to do this work. It will answer that need. I think that the age change for the sisters is good because it changes the culture around sister missionaries. Instead of people just thinking that they're in the mission because they couldn't get hitched, they'll know that they actually have desires to serve the Lord. So that's good. And with the 18 year old little boys serving missions, that puts a LOT more stress on the Young Mens program. These guys will need to be absolutely mission ready by the time they graduate high school. No more going to a year of college to "grow up". Also, one of the brothers in the ward mentioned that over time, there won't be any more pre-mission guys at like BYU and whatnot. There'll only be RMs. Crazy. Elder Holland said in a press conference that the church is planning on opening up quite a few more missions. Maybe they'll split this mission eventually. It's big enough to do so. Who knows.  

Overall, conference was the bomb.edu. Elder Holland's talk was legendary. It was sick. Conference was pretty great.

The work is going really well. We have some good people in the woodworks here. President Keyes loves that phrase, in the woodworks, I'm not even really sure what it means. He has lots of little phrases that he says.

 As far as the work goes, we had an awesome week. We were able to get some investigators to conference which was sweet. We are still trying to teach as much as possible. The Hills are doing really well and are progressing towards their baptismal date nicely. We also have a mother-daughter combo, the Vargas family, that came to conference with us. I think that they liked it. We didn't have too much of an opportunity to talk afterwards because they had to leave really quickly. Life is good in the hood.

1. I watched conference in a chapel, in a suit, in English. Not very many snacks, just notes to take.

2. If I understand your question, I think you asked if I'm Spanish speaking, like in the compy? Well, he only speaks English, and Tagalog, I guess, and I am the Spanish know it all.

3. Re: see above

Okay Familia, have a great week. I love you tons.

Love, Nick

 

P.S. For the Oregon stuff, I got permission from President K eyes to go online and look at colleges. I started the app process for UO.  I have the app essay info. just letting you know. love you!!

P.P.S. haha, also- What is my GPA? and can you get some contact info for Coach Coe so I can start filling out recruitment papers? And for the major at UO do business administration. most likely do that for all of them, unless there is a specific sports.

New Comp Time 10/1/12

Yo Yo Ma (get it?),

 

NNNNNIIIIIIIINNNNNEEEEERRRSSSSSSS.

Sweet, I'm glad that they got their feet back under them. Too bad for Cal.

 

Thing here are going well. I have a brand new companion. My comp is Elder Javeloza. He is serving from Oceanside, CA but was born in the Philippines. He is very "deer in the headlights" still. He is a good guy, and I think a little freaked out, especially because he is in the ghetto. He is a good kid though.  He wants to work and learn. He was baptized a year and a half ago with the rest of his family. Training is going well. We have some extra study time which we have been using to help Elder Javeloza practice feeling more comfortable with teaching and just with understanding the gospel in general. He is a very quiet guy so we are working on getting him more used to talking with lots of people. Training is fun.

 

Elder Hanson went to Sedalia to serve with Elder Palilla of all people. Small world.

 

The work is going well. We set Sierra with a baptismal date. SWEET. I'm excited for that family. Other than that, we are working like crazy. I am having a good time out here. This past week, the work went really well. We taught a TON and spend some quality time looking for more new people to teach. . I am excited for  one family. My whole mission I have wanted to bring a whole family into the gospel and I think that I have found my match. Everything else is going well.

 

Mis repsuestas a Las Preguntas:

1. We can only go to the temple twice a year, so we have slim pickings, but Elder Hanson and I went to be with Billy when he did baptisms for the first time. It was pretty sweet.

2. So far this year I have read the New Testament, everything in the Triple, and Jesus the Christ. Right now, I'm working on going through the Book of Mormon again.

3. I haven't weighed myself in a while, but I have probably gained 5-10 pounds. Most of it is bulky muscles, so that's cool.

 

Sorry I am lacking words. Not much is going on in my brain right now. The library is freakin' packed, so I'm on a crunch for time. But just know that I am fine, breathing, and full of joy.

Okay fam, have a great week. I love you.

Love, Nick

BUSINESS ITEM for Mom: I need to know what the application questions are for the University of Oregon. When you get this, can you get them and email to me right away so I can read them next week? Thanks.

 

Older and Wiser

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whoop whoop. I'm gonna send you a package here pretty soon with some things that you would like. That is sweet that Chels is in town. She loves her surprise visits.

That is cool to hear about the surprise party. way to go dad. What do old people do at a party? Get jiggy with it? Who came?

Freakin' niners. I knew that they would let on slip early, but now they won't lost for a while. That is sweet that the Gigantes are October bound. It's magic time again for them.

Here, the leaves haven't changed yet, but should be super colorful by like the 2-3 week in october.

Things here are going well. We got Bro. Hill with a baptismal date for Dec. 1. We should be getting his wife on date this week. They are doing really well. He came to church yesterday and brought one of his daughters. I think that he liked it. Mariana is doing well. She is still progressing so that is sweet. This past week we found a lot of new people to teach. 10 to be exact. We found a few part-member families to work with, so I hope that they go well. We are now teaching two scientologists. From what they say, I don't think that they believe in robots and aliens and whatnot. It sounds a lot like Buhdism, in the fact that it is more about perfecting the inner being.

 Oh, also big news, I will be training a new missionary this upcoming transfer. I don't know who, but I am excited. I hope I can leave a good impression on him. Elder Hanson is getting transferred to somewhere unknown at the moment, but he is really anxious because it is his first time getting transferred ever. When I left Kaw River, I was like "No, I can't be leaving, this is my place" but now, it's just kinda "meh". Welp, that is what is going on with me.

Man, that is crazy that Colton is already home. His mission seemed like it went super fast. 

 

1. Let's see, my favorite meal of the week was....I don't know. We had some good stuff this week. We had pizza, tacos, tortilla soup, rice and beans, lots of good stuff. We had some fun dinners this past week. It was a good one.

2. Craziest ice cream flavor would be the KC Classic: bacon ice cream with pieces of pork mixed with bbq sauce. you asked for craziest, not best tasting.

3. Dad on twitter? How 2012 of him. That is funny. Twitter is big from what I hear. I'll have to get caught up on that when I get back.

 

Okay my 25 year old momma (kissin' up). Have a great week and a greater birthday!!!!
Love you Fam!
Love, Nick

Homer Simpson Goes on a Mission (9/17/12)

Yay Niners!!! That is sweet. They are going to the Superbowl for sure. Man, that is a lot of stakes. Mmmmm steakkkkk...

The work is going well here. We have a lot to do and are staying super busy. I am really happy about that. This past week we taught like crazy. Still the Sunday afternoon during the Chiefs game was slow. I guess I just don't get it. It's just the Chiefs. They can always wait. The Niners, on the other hand, are a top priority. Whatever.

It's good to hear that you are enjoying your job. Are you still exercising a lot? As for voting this year, I don't think that I should because I would just be voting for a face and not for what they want to do. I don't know what's going on, and don't think that the vote would be in good order. unless you just want to vote for me, feel free.

Anyways, the work is sweet here We were working our tails off this past week to reach some goals that we set for ourselves and that made the week go by super fast. We have a big lesson with our investigators tomorrow. I hope that it goes well and hopefully set them with a baptismal date.

Billy asked me to give him the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday. It was a cool experience. He is doing really well. He got a job selling security systems and says that he knows how we feel sometimes because he goes door-to-door.

Mariana is still doing great. She should have a set date for October at some point.

Oh, also, we got word that this really cool thing is happening here in the Missouri Independence Mission. Gladys Knight and her choir, Saints Unified Voices, are coming to do a special "musical presentation" (we can't call it a concert for some reason). I guess she sings and bears her testimony and cool things like that. It should be sweet. She goes around to the missions and does this thing. Other than that, I am doing really well. There is a lot of work to do in this area and we are keeping super busy. Transfers are coming up next week and my comp has been here awhile so he may get shipped off somewhere. He says that he wants to only stay in the Independence area, so we always joke with him that he is getting exiled to Wichita.

Some business stuff: for the schools list (thanks for the package btw), it was UC Santa Barbara not Davis, Colorado State not CU, and what is the honors college at the U?  When you have time, can you get me the info for the Oregon app? And also, potentially look for some scholarships, if you have time.

Glad to hear that things at home are going swimmingly. How are the morning workouts with Edie going? Are you the star pupil? Does Todd still eat wings a lot? Mason said that he is working there now. How is that going?

1. Every once in a while we go to somewhere to eat. It usually just depends on how much money we have. We have been finding some good taco places here and a very good Vietnamese place as well.

2. For district meetings, I teach on whatever the district needs or is lacking at that point. A few weeks ago we were having trouble getting people to church, so I taught about Revelation Through Church Attendance. Things like that.

3. For prospective missionaries, I would tell them to become very familiar with Preach My Gospel and to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon. Those two things are key.

Okay, mi familia, have a great week.

Love, Nick

Aloha from the 'Zou (9/10/12)

Aloha from the 'Zou,

NNNIIIIIIIINNNNNEEERRRRRRRRSSSSS!

Man, that is sweet. Superbowl here we come. Man, that completely made my day. I wear a red tie on Sundays to support my boys. I guess it's working.

I was thinking about Daffy the other day. She is a funny dog. Lots of people here have mean dogs, like pit bulls and big mutts.

Billy's baptism was really great. We had some great speakers and it all went smoothly. President and Sister Keyes came to the baptism because Billy met with him at one point to talk for a little bit. It is nice to have them there.

The Riverview ward is going well. All of the speakers bailed on the bishop so my comp and I had to speak. We also had to set up the sacrament and I translated for a little bit before the regular translator got there. It was pretty hectic.

All in all, we had a good week. We were able to get a lot done.We found a new family to teach last week.  They're a young couple with a few kids. He really likes the church because nobody gets paid for their service. He has a hard time listening to preachers who drive nice cars and have their million dollar houses. The more that we talk with them, the more prepared they seem. I think that they will join the church, hopefully soon. I think that we can do a lot of good work with them. Mariana is doing really well. Still just waiting for her grandma to get here so that we can baptize her. The work here is booming.

There is not much new with me personally. Just kickin' it in the hood. Yesterday was really slow during the Chiefs game. Everybody here loves their Chiefs. I don't really understand why. I guess some just aren't lucky enough to be 49er fans.

  1. Yes, I wake up at 6:30 and go to bed at 10:30. I'm a good lil missionary, Mama. Don't you fret.

2. If last fall was any indication, we get great fall leaves here. Right now everything is still green, really green actually. The rain from Tropical Storm/Hurricane Isaac really helped the plants here. It is getting cooler now, so the leaves should be changing soon.

3. P-Days in the Independence Zone are fun. We wake up early and go to Independence to play frisbee in the mornings because not all of the sisters have the same pdays, so we let them have a little fun too. Then we get ready and study a little, email, eat lunch and shop, and then we either play basketball or just chill.

 

I'm glad to hear that work is going well. Are you going to have to travel at all for this job? If you ever go to North Carolina get some barbeque.

Welp, have a great week.

 Love you more than High Priests love not matching their pants and their jackets.

Love, Nick

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