I've never wanted to hug so many people before!

Well this week was pretty awesome! 

Not to mention that you totally saw Elder Fowler, that kid is incredible!

Last week Nick said goodbye to Elder Preston Fowler as he completed his two year mission in Chihuahua, and this week we were able to greet him and his sweet family in Reno, NV as we attended his homecoming and open house!  Such a treat!

But yea this week was really good! 

To start, we had two baptisms! The first was of a family that has pretty much has adopted us, the family Gonzalez! We always love seeing them, and it was such a special experience to be such a part of their family, por decir!  

Elder Fowler was especially close to this family as well, and was able to attend the baptism right before returning home!

And also we had another little one, named Damara, and Wow, this family has been with missioneries for like 6 months, so it was so special to finally see their daughter get baptized! She was so cute and the spirit was super strong. We really saw this family start to really change and really embark! :) It was so sweet!

I love these families and we can feel their love for us too!  We also had Stake Conference this week, and so I saw so many familiar faces of friends and families I love so much that I just about cried, honestly!!! I've never wanted to hug so many people before... and like Wow, that was hard to keep from just throwing my arms around them in some instances... For example, Luis Sandoval!!! He got sealed to his wife and they're just amazing people, and you have a bunch of fotos with us together in Girasoles! :) 

Also the family Rincon, and their sons Arturo y Omar. Theyre like 21 and 25 but Omar and I are like best friends, I love that guy! Picture to come! :)

And the family Navarro! I know I've told you guys about them -- the Mom reminds me exactly of you, my Mother!!!! She's awesome, the Dad is incredible, and they have a son serving a mission!!  They even gave me a tie this Sunday and man, honestly, I just love them so much!! The family Navarro is super special!! :) 

And I could go on and on and on because there are so many great people here, but anyway the Bishop from Girasoles is the new Stake President, so that's super cool! I also got the opportunity to meet Elder Chavez, or Presidente Chavez, the former Chihuahua Mexico Mission President! I also met Elder Rafeal Pino of the Seventy. He's really awesome, and they both shared some great messages, but I'm gonna be using part of their messages for you guys in about a year and a few months, so you'll have to just hold on for that! ;)

Naw, but really, this week has just been really good. Getting back to basics ya know? Trying to be more like Christ. Being a Zone Lider really has made me realize how hard it is to be a parent... it made me really understand what Mom has told me for years... it's not always what you say, it's how you say it.  That's something that has helped me a lot.  When the missionaries feel our concern for them, I feel like they tend to do better. It's a balance and I'm working on finding that balance! It's not easy!

But we've also been trying, Elder chan and I, to distinguish between the necessity and the problem of people - because they're two very different things. For example, if someone isn't working hard, that might be their problem... but their necessity could be something deeper, like maybe they need more faith or something like that.  If we try and see people and their struggles and problems more like that, we can really help them in a meaningful way. :) And I think that's something rather awesome.

Bueno pues that's about it! I love you all, have an awesome week!!!!

Nick

Cambios!!

Well today was changes!!!

And I didn't have any! Hahaha! But the zone had quite a few, including that Elder Lopez showed up to my zone!!! Yea, my first dad is here in the zone! And wow that kid has changed a lot, its super cool to see him again! 

AND YEA, EZRA GAVE ME TJ'S TIE AND THAT WAS SO NICE! HE SAID I WAS WORTHY TO HAVE IT - WOW I LOVE THAT DUDE!  Why didn't we REALLY get to know him at TJ's wedding?!?!?! He's literally the coolest cat out her in Chihuahua. Love that guy!

Nick's cousin, Travis (we call him TJ), served a mission in Uruguay two years ago... one of his closest companions was Elder Avina.  We all met Ezra Avina at TJ's wedding last summer and enjoyed a great conversation but that was all... Ezra lives in Chihuahua in the same area Nick is serving -- and with a little direction from the missionaries in his ward, Ezra was able to track Nick down!!  Nick has really enjoyed connecting with Ezra and getting to know him.  This week Ezra gave Nick his cousins tie (one TJ gave him on the mission) and told Nick he was worthy to have it!!  Just awesome!! :)

Also, mom, Elder Fowler has a little something for you from me, so you'll get a little gift at his homecoming talk!  Hopefully you'll like it. :)

Andddddd que mas............

Do you know Elder Johnson's family? And a better question, are they staying in our house?!!  Elder Johnson and I are pretty close too, like Fowler and I, so he totally told me like 'Hey man, I think my family is gonna stay at your house' and I was just like whaaaaaat?!!!!  I did not see that coming!  Haha!  But, if that's true, please tell his parents that their son is a super awesome missionary and just an amazing person in general!

And well, we had a baptism this week, which is kinda rare because we're zone lideres, but it was really awesome! the hermano that got baptized is awesome, and his cousin baptized him! I remember a prayer that he said especifically when we started to teach him, he said 'Father please help me be able to go to church every Sunday' and this man just gets it.  He gets it because he said this prayer in the process of looking for a job, and he found one, but it would have made him work on Sunday, so he turned it down and kept looking. He said this prayer and a few days later found a better job with less hours and Sundays off. It was the coolest little experience! 

Also  we taught another man and in the first lesson he prayed and he sayed something that really struck me. He prayed for us... that we'd be protected and guided, and then he said 'because I know these boys (jovenes) are prepared to help guide me to You' and that just hit me, because there are a lot of times I do not feel so prepared, but whenever we sit down to talk with someone I just feel it. I don't think I could ever describe what it's like, but it's really amazing.

Also, the ward Girasoles, the one I was in before I got here, is in our zone so I still see the members and I absolutely love them and I can feel their love and ahhhhh I miss them! Also Elder Chan and I totally got adopted into a family here in Centro. It's the family that celebrated my birthday for me -- I love them so much too!  There's a lot of really great people here in Mexico! :)

Well, I love you all!  Be good!  Until next time,

Nick

Learning Something in Everything!

Hey Fam!

Well this week has been super awesome!  I don’t have a lot of time, so I’ll just try to fill you in on a few things…

Life is good here in the mission! I’m learning so much in my personal studies and in my experiences.  Everything seems to offer a lesson if I let it… I hope I’ll be able to put it into English and have it make sense.  So, okay cool, I’ll give it a go.

I heard a quote and someone said that the important thing in life is not the ‘why’, but ‘for what’. Instead of asking ‘why did this happen?’, we need to think for what reason did this happen? What can I learn from it?  It sounds cooler in Spanish, 'no por que, sino para que?' esta chido esto.

I also saw a t-shirt that was awesome. It said ‘built not born’ and I don’t know, I guess I thought it was cool. It made me think about a lot of things -- like being here in the mission, or even our testimony or our personal beliefs for example. A lot of times we have to work to build them, they aren’t necessarily born in an instant. I really liked it!

Also, Elder Fowler is going home! A lot of friends have been headed out and he’s the end of the first wave! His mom also sent me a tie for my birthday so a thousand thanks to her!!!!!

Okay, I’m almost out of time but I have one more thought to share…  The Book of Mormon is awesome, there’s so many great truths in there, but Wow, I am really diggin the Bible right now.  The stories of Christ’s life – His birth, His baptism, His Atonement and resurrection but there are so many more really good stories in the Bible.  I was studying in the New Testament the story of Jesus and Lazarus.  Jesus and Lazarus were friends, Jesus loved Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha.  A messenger was sent to tell Jesus that someone He loved was sick.  Jesus already knew that Lazarus had died, but He continued His work in the place He was, always mindful of the friends He loved, then in two days time, He informed His disciples that it was time to go back to Judea to see His friends.  It was on His timeline.  He didn’t neglect His friends, but He let them experience their hardship, and when He saw them, He cried with them and showed them great compassion, knowing the whole time He would raise Lazarus from the dead and by this Gods miracles would be made known.  He’s always available to help us, isn’t He?  But it’s not always how and when we think would be best.

It’s super interesting and great to share when someone is going through troubling times or having some problems.  Jesus always wants the best for us, but He lets us have trials because we need them to continue progressing.

I also studied the history of Peter and you can read about it in John.  When Peter saw Jesus on the water he lept out of the boat to meet Jesus on the water, but quickly began to drown.  But why?  Peter was a fisherman, he knew how to swim, and he was a strong swimmer… Peter jumps off the boat and begins to drown, and isn’t that just like life.  When life happens, sometimes we forget what we already know – even the simple things, and when we forget we feel like we’re drowning.  Sometimes the simple things are the most basic, like prayer, or in Peter’s case moving his arms and legs, and we start to drown in whatever it is we’re faced with, be it physically, spiritually or whatever.  But this is the way it goes sometimes. 

So don’t forget the little things… pray, read the scriptures, and go to church and never forget that Jesus loves you, He is there for you and wants the best for you and if you keep your faith, you will see His miricles.

Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAUREN and DAD!! and HAPPY ANIVERSERY MOM & DAD!

That’s all I’ve got for now, Till next time! I love you guys!!!!!

Nick