Every Time I Turn Around It's 'For The Last Time'!!

Hey fam!!!! 

IN TWO WEEKS WERE GONNA SKYPE-FOR-THE-LAST-TIME-UNTIL-I'M-HOME.

That kinda blows my mind!!!! We're pretty much already in the month of May!!! I'm almost twenty!!! And I almost have like 20 months in the mission!!! After the video call I'll only have 4 months left here in Chihuahua!!! It blows my mind and I'm just trying to make the most of the time that I have left here... I can't believe that I'm the 'old missionary'... so not ready for that!!!

But yea, it's happening!!

But okay, this week went by SOOO fast I can't believe it! But I think still remember everything that has happened.. mas o mens (more or less). It's been another crazy week. The time passes so fast now.. 

This week we had Zone Conference!!! And Hermana Montoya told me that it was weird to see me in a Zone Conference outside of Chihuahua city! hahahah And well, she's right... seeing that I've spent so much time in the city, it kinda feels like home to me! I really kinda miss being there! 

But, I'm also in love with Delicias, to be completely honest! It's HOT here but it's really enjoyable!! The bikes are good, the members are great, and we're visiting some really great familias! There are a lot of people that really want to get closer to God here, including other missionaries.

On a side note, Something interesting about being back in the field as a 'normal' missionary now is that it seems as though the other missionaries are more comfortable and don't get as nervous in front of me like they used to when I was a Zone Leader... like if we were doing practices or something like that... Now missionaries seek me out, they approach me to ask for ideas, how to teach, practice ideas, or bring me doubts that they have about their own teaching abilities and all that, and the super cool thing is, because they are more comfortable and open, they are applying the coaching and seeing results. Each missionary has like their own trait or strength, right? Like one Elder might be really obedient, and another Elder is really good at contacting and what not... Well, my trait (according to what the missionaries tell me) is that I teach well. So it's been cool having other missionaries come to me and say, hey, I need to improve my teaching, can you help me?

It's kind of special to me because when I was Zone Leader, it was my responsibility to coach them and I'd have to tell em, Okay, we're gonna practice teaching, and were gonna see what we can improve, but they wouldn't open up a lot. But now, it's been really cool :) and I've felt really useful, because the misioneros seem really grateful for the tips that they receive... I don't know, it makes me feel like I'm contributing something significant, genuinely, a heck of a lot more significant then when I had the title!!

But anyway, what else happened this week... We had a crazy night last night because a missionary in the Zone had changes... but that's a story for later :D Nothing bad happened, but it was a little NUTS.

I know a lot more happened, but I'm kinda blanking! Mmmm Well, I'm good, I'm happy, really happy, and I'm super excited to see you guys again!!!! I can't believe it's that time again... But everything's fantastic here :) Don't worry about a thing!

I'm looking forward to the Bday box Mom! Hahaha, I think it'll be the last box that I'll be needing here in the mission!!! I think we can officially be good after this one! Which also feels crazy to say! 

But yea, I hope you guys are well! I hope everyone's well and good! I love you guys a bunch, I pray for you and feel your prayers. Thank you for everything you do!!!! 

Till next week!

Nicki

Stuff Like This Just Makes Me Feel Good!!

Woah, Okay, another week down!

And hey guess who my Zone Leader is now!!! IT'S TEMPLETON!!! That's only super cool! Hahahaha! It's always great when I get to see him regularly. Crazy to think that we only have 5 months left... I remember this time last year I was with el Elder Marx in Girasoles!!! That's so weird to me! I'm getting old and I don't like it! I still have a bunch of time here, I know, but everytime that someone asks me how much time I have left and they hear '5 months' they say 'WOW you're pretty much going home!!' and I'm just like wait, what, no hold up!

But yea, time is starting to FLY BY!!!!!!!

And I love being here with Elder Thomas!! He's a great guy, and he's a great missionary. He's still learning Spanish, but we've started reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish together and the progress he's made in just a few days in INCREDIBLE. Like just in the two days that we've studied it, his Spanish got crazyyyyyy good. We're gonna keep doing it and keep seeing the miracle in motion! :D 

And something really cool happened this week, and it's something that always makes me feel really good :) We were waiting for the bus, and the bench was loaded. We were standing and an older guy just started talking to us and said that he's Catholic and wasn't interested in our message, but he started saying that he appreciated what we do, and said that they city really likes having us around, because we act as role models for the younger kids. And he asked the other people on the bench like 'you guys agree right?' and everyone started saying really good things about the missionaries. It made me feel good :) it was a sweet moment, and then we saw another example of that when we went to teach a family! As we were leaving, the two little kids told us that when they get older, they're gonna be like us, and visit people to talk about God and being happy :) It was a really special moment for me :) It was so cute, and really got to my heart :)

Also we got lost this week, kinda, Hahaha Actually, we were in a part of the area that's kinda far and haven't really gone there. So we went!  And we were trying to find someone that wanted to listen to us. So, we prayed for guidance, and so we just went the direction we felt. We went right, left, straight, and wherever else we felt and we made it to a home. The FIRST house we knocked on, out came a woman and she said that she had seen missionaries like us in Meoqui (another town that's kinda far) and that she was so happy that God had sent us to her door! THAT WAS COOL!

And I read something this week in a lil book that Elder Thomas has. It had a quote that said 'what you are is Gods gift to you. What you do with yourself is your gift to God.' 

It's kinda cool, and made me think, what am I gonna do with my life to be a gift to God?

And ill leave it at that :) I love you guys, I hope you have a great week!!! We'll see eachother in just a couple weeks!!!!!!!! 

Love you guys!! Hasta pronto!!

Nicki

I Love Being Here!

Fam!

This week was awesome, I loved it a lot! We worked a TON and we went to the very edges of our area, and down long dirt roads just to knock on some doors where other missionaries have never gone! So we definitely put some miles on bike riding!!

But yea, this week was an adventure... and time goes FLYING by now. I don't know what happened, but I have like a calendar in my study room, and I set goals for myself every day and make different marks as I complete them... but today, this morning, when I looked up and I saw that the ENTIRE week passed by - I was blown away, because it literally feels like it all happened in a day!

But yea, awesome week, I loved it, and something super funny happened this week! 

So I do exercise almost everyday here. I try my very best to do it, but some days I just do like a pushup and call it.. yea... So the funny thing is EVERY SINGLE TIME I flake out on morning excersice here on the mission, I just so happened to get volunteered for physical service on the road, to make up for the exercise. I don't know if I've already told you this, but it totally happens!! God makes sure I get my exercise on the daily!  Jajajaja!  

For example, This week, the one day I didn't exercise, I think I was just feeling lazy, like I could get a hall pass for all the bicycle riding we're gonna do.  So, we're out riding our bikes and a member stops us... 

'Hey Elders!!! Do you have a minute?? I need help with something.'

'yea of course, what's up?'

'I sold my piano and I gotta get it moved like right now.. Can you help me?' 

A PIANO?!!! Ha! So, we totally helped him move his piano... After the mission, ask me about the other times, and I'll share stories for every other time I passed... like one time in la Sierra, I had to push a truck up a hill :) so that was cool!!  Would have been easier just to  exercise! Hahahaha

Something interesting I liked this week was shared in Church. The teacher was talking about the importance of attitude, and how our attitude of obedience is pretty much just as important as our obedience. If we're obedient, but moaning and complaining, what benefit does it have? The funny thing is he said that obedience is a rule, so if we're gonna be obedient, we might as well do it happily!! And he used the example of washing dishes for Mom when we were young. We all had to wash the dishes anyway, so why weren't we just happy about it? It woulda made life so much easier for EVERYONE!!!

(Sorry Mom, only took me about 20 years to get that thru my head... if only I'd have learned it when I was 9... Ha!)

Oh and how could I forget that I got a phone call Saturday from a number in Chihuahua!! It was Bishop Loera!!!!  Holy cow, I love them so much!!!  They made the drive out to Delicias just to deliver the package Lauren and Jewlz had given them for me in Utah!!  That was such an amazing exchange, being able to see them and recieve that from Lauren and Jewlz.  It was just awesome! (We also totally took a sweet lightsaber fight video but this ciber is super slow so I'll send it next week if we can get in a better ciber) ...and the cookie butter is gone. Yes, already! Ha ;)

We also had a beautiful talk with a sister that's learning about the gospel this week, and she gave the prayer at the end of the lesson, and when she prayed she prayed for her sons and for us and it really reminded me of your prayers Mom. :) I feel your prayers every day, but boy, I sure do miss em!

We are good and everything's amazing here, I hope you guys are well and loving life! 

God loves you!!!!

hasta pronto!!

Nicki

Using talents learned in la Sierra ;)

Already Seeing Blessing in Delicias!

Well, it's been a great week here in Delicias! 

My comp, like I said before, is Elder Thomas and he's super cool. We get along super good, he's super easy, and he's already a great missionary with even greater potential. We're working really hard here, and we're seeing a lot of fruits of that labor :D 

We only have a week together, but we've seen a lot of blessings. We've managed to be in the right place at the right time a lot, and that's a huge blessing, because out here on bikes, we have to travel like 30 minutes on bicycle just to get to the church... or to the DLs house for a meeting, and then we have to cycle a half hour back to our area. So, daily, we ride a lot! And our whole area is like that... a bunch of pueblos (neighborhoods) miles apart, so we have to ride the bikes to get to each part of the area. I've never ridden so much!! I have a new respect for Lauren's bike ride to San Diego!!! This week we'll definitely get some sweet pics so there's proof!  Ha! :D

Really, I'm just enjoying the mission life out here! We're working really hard, and we're enjoying every minute of it!  And we're talking with some really cool people, so hopefully we'll be able to see some of them get closer to our Heavenly Father :D

Something cool that I found this week was a quote by Henry Thoreau I think... he states  'It is not enough to be busy, So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?' 

And it made me reflect a bit!  And I realized that I don't think I'd rather be busy about any other thing than what I'm doing right now, where I am right now :) I'm really enjoying the life here. It seems like everything I learned in the last year as a leader is finally getting put into play in every single aspect of the work. It's super cool :)

I love you guys so much!!!!!

"Don't let a day go by without acting on the promptings on the spirit."  - Dieter F. Uchtdorf.

We need to have spiritual moments every day! :)

Love you all!!!

Nicki

We killed a mouse, but put a sticker on it to save sensative audiences :)

Surprise Changes!

Hey!!! 

We had surprise changes!!!

I'm out of Chihuahua!!! (I've had 15-16 months total in Chihuahua City) and now I'm in Delicias!!!  And I'm finishing the training of a missionary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (needless to say I'm super stoked!!!!!!!!!!!!)

His name is Elder Thomas, and he actually lived with Elder Gonzalez and me for a week, while his other dad (trainer), Elder Ramirez, showed us around my last area!  So I already know the kid pretty well!!!!  We'll have plenty of pics for you guys next week :D

But yea, Elder Gonzalez and I had a good week! It was super cool, and the best part without a doubt was watching General Conference!  It was a super cool experience.. and such a nice way to watch the last confrence of my mission. I can't believe that it's the last one... but I loved every minute of it. It was awesome! Following is a link for anyone who'd like to check out General Conference online.

April 2018 General Conference

So, a little back story to how changes happened this week... Last week we had interviews with Presidente Montoya and he asked me how I feel and if there was anything I'd like to be doing.  I told him that I really wanted to train... And he followed up with the phone call Sunday telling me that I have changes!! I'm excited :D

Honestly I don't remember anything that happened this week, I'm still in the rush of changes... but I have pictures :D And that was the deal right? If I dont have words, pics will do! Haha!!

I love you guys!!!!!

- Nicki

With his new companion Elder Thomas

Note from Mom:  Nick became a District Leader right out of his own training, and has now been a Zone Leader for over a year (longer then anyone else currently in the mission).  When sharing the news with his Father, Nick referenced Ayrton Senna, Formula One World Champion race car driver who was quoted saying of all racing, his favorite was competing in gokart racing because it was absent of pressure and politics, "It was pure driving, real racing. And that...that makes me happy" about his kart time.  Nick shared giving up titles and leadership to train was that way for him, allowing him to focus on the 'pure love of missionary work'.

On another note, one of the families that Nick loves so much in Chihuahua was visiting family in the States and attending General Conference in Utah.  Nick gave them Lauren's number, and they were able to connect!  Lauren loved meeting them and hearing all the nice things they shared about her brother, she fell in love with their kids and gave them a package to deliver to Nick when they return!  Such a treat and made it feel like Nick wasn't quite so far away!!