Week 20: December 1, 2013

 well thanksgiving was awesome! In the morning the enlgish ward had a turkey bowl, we invited some of our investigators but he didnt come but we were already there so we thought hey why not. before we went there they said bring a blue or red shirt. Classic colors huh. so of course i came in full out Utah gear!!! and I did amazing I got a few picks and scored a couple touchdowns, it was so funny becuase no one knew who i was (because i go to the spanish branch) except that i was one of the elders. When ever I was on offence they would have 3 people on me and say "cover utah" hahha and when i was on defense i just dropped back to safety and no one ever caught a ball around me hahah. then we started playing like an ulitmate frisby but with a football and that was fun too! of course their were all these cherry pickers and i would just bat down all the passes to them one guy was like "i hate you" hahah because i bated down everything. throughout the game i kept hearing "who is this guy????" it was really funny. so ya i reminded all the byu fans out here who dominates in utah hahahahahaha. then after that i proceded to have 3 thanksgiving dinners!!! it was insaine i ate so much food i thoght i was going to die!!! ya im so excited to talk to y'all!!!!!!! its going to be great! christmas cant come too fast hahaha well i hope you have a great week! love you!Elder Park

Week 19: November 24, 2013

 sundays are our busiest days. well usually we do pretty good about getting meal appointments, hispanics just feed the missionaries like none other, we had so much food in the fridge and had all these dinners that we invited the english elders over for lunch one day and sent them home with about half our fridge because there is no way that we could down it all. well i mean i could, but then i would get super fat hahaha.

this past saturday we had our branch thanksgiving party. it was amazing!!! the members brought so much people and food it was great! i didnt know like half the room because of all the people that came, so hopefully we will be able to ask the members about their friends and start teaching them. we have been getting a lot of great member referrals recently and they have been big families so hopefully that is all going to end up well. there are some super elect people everywhere, we just have to look for them! i love y'all and hope you have a great thanksgiving. 

ps im doing really good and keeping the turkey going! ill send you a pic when its all done

Elder Park 

 Week 18: November 18 2013

well i had an awesome experience this week. we were teaching a part member family and the husband is not a member. he had been going to a jehovahs witness church for a while so he had some confused beliefs. We were teaching him the plan of salvation and things were going great. while we were talking about the purpose of this life we tied in the 5 points of the Doctrine of Christ. while we were talking about that he just said. "how does someone get baptised in your church" so i immediately invited him to be baptised on the 14 of December. funny thing about that is that a year ago some elders discontinued teaching him because of his lack of interest. then he had a stroke and while he was down he said that the only people who came to visit him and his wife were members from the church and that really softened his heart!! it was an awesome lesson!

Elder Park

Week 17: November 13 2013

sorry that my letter is a little late this week. the library was closed on monday and yesterday we had a general authority come and speak to us. it was awesome! well transfer new

s is in and im staying here in Raeford A. Elder Corbin is going to Raleigh to be a Zone Leader and Elder Mora from Raeford B ( in my district) is going to follow up train me and Raeford B is going to be made Sisters. this is the first time they are going to have spanish sisters in the mission.

Creepy Spider!

the baptism went great! even though not many people came, i think she prefered it that way because she is kinda shy.

  im doing great out here! its not too cold. from october conference to april we have to wear a sweater, suitcoat or jacket everyday ( we call it suit season) so i don't get too cold. plus if you remember me from when i rode the bus in jr high and sophomore year i didn't care how cold it was, i was going to wear shorts! so now in a shirt and tie and jacket im pretty warm. but probably will go get some gloves at walmart just in case it gets too cold. do the missionaries you see have a car or bikes?

sorry its a little short this week we don't have as much time as usual because its wednesday but i love y'all and hope your doing great!

Week 16: November 3 2013

North Carolina Raleigh Mission

This is what nic did for Halloween 

Gansta Missionary

there are a ton of missionaries here who are spanish in the ncrm.(North Carolina Raleigh Mission) its crazy! idk how many for sure but i know like 15 started their mission the same day as me who are spanish! ya we cover the same boundaries as the english elders but our areas are just a lot bigger. we cover like what 6 sets of english missionaries cover and before i got here it was double that. our area is huge!

your breaking my heart dad. 3 out of 10 birds was a turkey winner......... yep my heart is broken hahah. ooo ya im glad she got to go out and have some fun while i'm gone (I think he is talking about his gun, bessie) hahah. well thats great that y'all were shooting good! what???? 

well we have a baptism on Saturday and we are super excited! im out of time to email so sorry but i have to send some pics so this email is short this week i love yall!

Elder Park

Week 15: October 28 2013

well everything is going great down here! ya idk if the biking season will ever be over for me hahahaha. we do have a car and a lot of miles but our area is MASSIVE! it covers like 5 english elders areas. from one end of our area to the other is 80 miles. hahahha ya i think you might need to go to that. i can just imagine. " hi my name is dennis and i'm addicted to exercising"... " hi dennis" hahahaha 
hey thats the date when our next investigator is going to be baptized! so its going to be a great day for us both!   well im going to make it today so it is going to be awesome, i buy a bag of Doritos like every other week so i have a few bags hahaha well im sure going to miss those scones this and next year but hey ill get them after that right? i love y'all and hope you are all doing great!

 

so there is this family that has been active in the church for a few years but just haven't gone to the temple yet to get all those great blessings there. so me and my companion thought we should visit them, we had no idea what we were going to say, but then when we were talking my companion just started talking about family history work, and they absolutely loved it! they said that no other missionaries had told them about this before and they were so excited, i hope it will help them get to the temple. We built up a lot of trust with them when we did that, and the next time we came over they said hey we have a friend that wants to learn about the gospel, and we are just like great!!! they even caught ahold of the missionary spirit! we have a lesson in their home today actually so it has been great with them! 

Week 14: October 21th 2013

wow day off on a Monday? that's weird! oooo man as soon as i heard breakfast i was like they probably made egg mcmuffins and hash browns and yep i was right! wow that window well looks nasty!!!! sounds like y'all have been busy for the past little while! well i hope its not too chilly, its gotten colder around her lately, everyone told me that when its cold here its cold but i didn't believe them too much cuz if its not snowing its not cold to me but this morning when we were running it was 40 degrees and my hands were so bone chillingly cold it was crazy! ima have to buy me some gloves. haha right when i read christlike, i was like "chapter 6 Christlike attributes" hahahah. but ooo ya those points in the chapter are amazing! i love studying that chapter! i know that as y'all study it you will learn so much and will get closer to christ!

hey look im a solder now!
haha a man gave me some army stuff. i
 even have a flat jacket!

hahaha when i saw you added me (on facebook) i was like i knew she would fall to the temptation! and i saw you don't have a profile pic on there or stuff like that so i was like, yep all she did was make it and add me hahahaha. well we get on the computers at the church on Sundays when we are doing our online proselyting. my 100 day box was amazing i loved it sooo much! it was perfect. the Book of Mormon was great too! i read through the whole thing that day while my companion did 6 baptismal interviews for some elders in our district!! haha ya i took a pic of the jaw breaker on day one of eating it and it will take a looooong time! wow im going to get fat from all the treats! good thing we have some English elders that live next to us so i can share with them too!!! well its my little brothers birthday!!! of course im going to send him a card! what kind of brother would i be if i didn't get a present for my little brother for his birthday! ooooo sounds like fun! 

well the other day i realized why im soooo glad im in the south. They are true Christians!!!!! the other day me and my companion went to a restaurant of a member friends that we were going to go meet. after we sat down and ordered this lady came over and asked if she could sit down. we said of course she could. she asked us if we were the ones who were always riding around on bikes and we laughed and said ya thats us. she went on saying how much hope it gave everyone knowing that there were people like us going out and sharing the gospel. she was a member of a different church and had different beliefs but we both have the same savior and she knew that. it didn't matter that we weren't members of her church, just that we were going around teaching people of Christ's love. it was amazing it made me so happy that she would stop eating dinner and come talk to us because she recognized our dedication. at the end she said i just want to let you know that im going to be paying for y'alls meal tonight. I dont know who that lady was, and likewise for her and us, but she showed me that it didn't matter what someone believes. we can still serve them and be true Christians! i love y'all and hope you are doing good!

Week 13: October 14th 2013

my fist fiesta! hahah

well at least y'all are going to get snow for winter! haha. Elder Corbin told me that when winter comes all the leaves fall off the tree but that it only snows once or twice a year so I wont be able to see all that beautiful snow on the trees. thats one of my most favorite things, i love winter! and i wont get any snow for Christmas!!!! i told elder corbin if there is no snow im going to go get some ice and crush it on the porch so that i can see some snow for Christmas hahahaha. ya i saw on Facebook!  i was soooo happy!!! are they ranked at all? hey im a witness that after all the tacos and such a pizza every once and again for a Spanish missionary is just fine! so i guess he is going to be an eagle scout then huh? hahah ya its hard to talk about eternal families with people because then i think of mine but at the same time happy because i know that i will be able to live with mine forever! ...... good one.....lol huh?..... hahahah  well thanks for all the letters y'all send me, they are great. and thank you in advance for the package, im excited because every one has been soooo good so far!

well this week has been another great week in the life of the lords servant. there hasn't been any huge things that happen but ive come to realize that just as how the holy ghost confirms truths to us with small things such as feelings or thoughts, the lord has a hand in each of our days if we but look for it. Everyday I write in my journal i can always think of something good that has happened that day. If i look i always find a tender mercy of the lord in my days. The lord loves each of us so much and he wants to bless us as much as he can so that we are happy, the only thing holding him back is ourselves. As we live our lives how we should the lord will bless us. in the beginning of 4th Nephi the people are so blessed and have so many miracles around them, you know why? its because they are so faithful and do everything that the lord wants of them, so he blesses them. I have seen that not only in my life but in the others that I have been teaching and talking to everyday. When we with one of our investigators, its almost like we dont have to ask if they have been keeping there commitments, such as reading the scriptures or praying daily. We can see it in their countenances they just seem happier. As they do all these things and change their lives they are just so much more happy and are able to see the love of god in their own lives. This past week one of the many great families in the great Raeford Spanish branch moved. It was pretty sad and hard to see them go, which scares me for the rest of my mission when i leave certain areas because i will have to say goodbye to so many great and inspiring people. I know that they will all do great without me in their lives however, and the lord needs them to go and bless other people too so ill just have to live with it i guess haha. well thats all for today. I love all of y'all and miss ya so much! read and pray everyday to keep satan away!

Love Elder Park 

Week 12: October 7th 2013

The field is white all ready to harvest :)

conference was amazing!! its true i soaked up a million times more than i ever have! it was sooo great! ya its definitely changed how im going to listen to conference. did you watch the segments in between? there was one about the mexico mtc and i saw my district and i didnt get a close enough look but im pretty sure i was in it. they also showed a meeting that i was in and i tried looking for myself but it went to quick maybe one day ill get to see if i was on there or not! so hopefully y'all recorded it so i can watch it to see. did y'all have egg mcmuffins and hash browns on sunday? that morning i was sitting in the apartment eating cereal and just wishing i could get one of those that i eat every time. i missed those yesterday morning and the arctic circle shakes hahaha.I get why you do that now, i would love to just sit and listen to the conference talks while in the car but we aren't in the car for much time so it would be so scattered and i would get lost. but ya the talks were great and im excited to get the ensign to study the talks more fully!

well i hope you are doing better mom! keep working on the scripture study and keep up the praying! I have seen the blessings of being exactly obedient. thats something that my mission president has stressed with all the missionaries and we are all really good at it. elder corbin said that elder Holland said when he came here last year that we were the most obedient mission. Elder Corbin and I have been doing really good at keeping all the rules and we are blessed because we do so. we are doing really well and finding the lords elect people and teaching amazing lessons. we hopefully will have a few more baptisms coming up soon. well i love y'all so much and miss you tons! I hope y'all have an amazing week and see the tender mercies the lord gives each of us ever day of our lives because he loves us so much.

Elder Park

Week 11: September 30th 2013

Nic's First baptism as a missionary: Jonathan

well the names are Leonardo (dad) Irma (mom) Jonathan (son) and the girls names i don't know. we don't really see them much and you know how good i am with names! that was Elder Tingey he is one of the 4 other elders in the Spanish branch. ya so here is this story well  I had the privilege of baptizing and confirming this boy. When we asked if he would be baptized he said yes and because his father was baptized by my companion the week before, I think somewhat he felt obligated to choose me to baptize him but at the same time he didn't show like that was how it was. he was super excited and so was I!!! it was a bit different in Spanish and I almost forgot it, so i took a second and just prayed in the water and it just came to me and it went great! then after everything and eating this cake that i made he came up and said "so my dad was wondering who would be doing the thing tomorrow?" and we said  "whoever you want" He instantly he said me! and i was just terrified, a baptism was easy because its the same every time but a confirmation? so i tried to tell him that i wasn't too good at Spanish but he just persisted. Until the confirmation the next day i was just praying and praying that the lord would help me and that i would be able to say it all in Spanish. I was so nervous, but i went up there and it went great! I was amazed that i could do the whole thing in Spanish and it wasn't like really quick and done, it was great! I was so glad that he gave me the opportunity to try my faith, because when i did i was surprised at what i could do, and what the lord could help me do when i didn't think i could. Im looking forward to conference tambien!!!!

Ether 12:27 stay strong!!!

Love Elder Park 

Week 10: September 23, 2013

Yeah I’m pretty excited with all that happened. At the baptism a member wasn't able to come so I had to give a talk. And of course completely in Spanish. I was nervous at first but I got a couple little sentences I could say that I didn't know how to say on a little post it note, and I had a few scriptures. When I was up there everything seemed to just make sense and I felt like he was getting it. Later Elder Corbin said “that was the best Spanish I have ever heard you say" that made me so happy! I am getting so much better at pronouncing and reading. I’m even starting to understand the scriptures. They used to make no sense because in them they use a tense that no one ever says unless they are from Spain. So I never hear that used. But everything is starting to make so much more sense than it used to. It’s still really hard to speak but it’s getting easier every day. With a lot of common things and gospel things, I don’t have to translate what they said into English; I just know and understand them in Spanish so that’s really great. So the son of the man that got baptized is going to be baptized this next Saturday and he even asked me if I would do the baptism, IM SO EXCITED!!!!!  I know that as you continually strive to read and pray that the lord will bless you and the family will get so much closer!

Well Thanks for the package!! I'm excited to get it. I love the letters that y'all send. Its nice hearing about your day to day stuff that happens. Ues skittles or M&Ms!!! I'm so excited for conference too!!! Make sure that this time as a family y'all watch as many sessions together as you can. I know that as you do you will be blessed and it will just be great! I love y'all so much and tell everyone I say hi!!! Read 3 nephi 15:9 too it's a good one! 

Elder Park

Nic's First investigator to get baptized

 Elder Corbin, Leonardo and nic

Week 9: September 16, 2013

Well thanks for the pic of the temple it looks great! And wow the room looks amazing!!! But I am kind of disappointed that there are no more trucks and tractors on the wall. hahhahaha. Oh my golly I wish I could see a mountain right now. It is impossible to tell directions without mountains.

This is from another email. It’s being difficult today so bear with me. Thanks cuz I’m dying to buy a GPS, there is no sense of coordination with these streets!!! They change into different ones and end and then start up again somewhere else its insane! Thanks! Don’t take the mountains for granted! They are so beautiful! I look at emails at a literary center down the street a ways. It’s not too far. We actually aren’t allowed to get on members computers I’m pretty sure. we do get on Facebook at the library however, well just my companion because he is district leader and has been trying it out, I’m pretty sure I’ll be allowed to get on later this week but idk for sure.

So yesterday one of our investigators had his baptismal interview and is going to get baptized this Saturday and then his son hopefully the Sunday after that. He is a great man and we are super excited! I can’t wait for my first baptism this Saturday! Elder Corbin is doing the baptism but I don’t care because all that matters is that he is being baptized. Seeing someone change their life is amazing, the people are truly inspiring.

a few days ago we were teaching and Elder Corbin opened his scriptures and started looking for something, I had no idea what but I just started looking through mine as well, I just thought of the scripture that says "wickedness never was happiness" and I honestly had no idea where it was and for some reason I just started looking in Alma 41 I have no idea why I just felt like I should look in that chapter. And then I got to verse 10 and read "No vayas a suponer, porque se ha hablado concerniente a la restauracíon, que serás restaurado del pecado a la felicidad. He aquí, te digo que la maldad nunca fue felcidad."  and I was just so happy because I had found it, my companion was looking in the index and I ask him what are you looking for and he said the one that says wickedness never was happiness and I just said I have it right here. It was so amazing to see how the spirit guided me to that scripture. I didn’t know where it was but the spirit did and it guided me there. As missionaries we are promised so many blessings and I got to be a witness of one of them! Well love y'all and miss ya. Elder Park 

 Week 8: September 9th 2013

Last Picture from Mexico

If we get a hurricane I know the lord will protect us, he wouldn’t let anything happen to us I’m pretty sure. If we got one we could do a ton of service too!  Well I never knew how expensive stamps were until I went to go buy some the other day, I sent y'all a letter and hope yall like it! Thank you for all that because we are pretty limited on time so writing is going to be much easier. hahaha im excited to see what the next tie will look like! did you not see a picture of my district leader in the ugly tie in Mexico? I’ll get one of me and my district leader who is also my companion in it. no you don’t need to send one I found one in the apartment from a dead missionary ( which is just a missionary that finished his mission and went home but we call them dead missionaries hahaha). My companion said they will leave packages at our door so they won’t be out by the road. we have a car and because my companion is the district leader and we are Spanish speaking we have quite a few miles but we try to ride bikes whenever we can to save miles because even with all those miles we need to go pretty far to church and to investigators houses. Everyone is too far to walk to so we ride or drive. Thanks for calling the bank and for paying my tithing. Thank you for getting all that stuff for me! It means a lot! ya it was really weird when I opened it and there was only one shoe, I was a little confused. I got the left one if that matters haha.

Elder Corbin, Nic's companion and district leader

Nic outside the Raleigh Temple

well it’s been a while since I have been able to type out everything that has happened and it’s so hard to remember all the things but I have a few of them written down, the feelings aren’t as fresh but that’s okay. To start off my new companions name is Elder Corbin. He is from Cali and he is absolutely insane hahaha he is also the district leader of my district. He always makes funny faces in pictures so y'all will probably see some of his craziness. When I first got here I knew no one (obviously) but even if the people didn’t know me they let us in for dinner. Pretty much everywhere we go they will offer us food. They are so incredibly nice here and giving. Even though they may not have much, most of them live in trailer parks but they are still so giving. They like to have fun with me because I know little Spanish. One hermana calls me bebecito. Which means little baby. It’s really fun to talk with them though; they are so nice and love to joke. The first week I was here there was this birthday party we went to in fort Bragg. That place is HUGE! It amazes me how big that place is. Look it up on Google maps or something and you'll see what I’m talking about. A few days later there was this cultural night that our branch had. It was so great! There were a lot of different people there from a lot of different countries. And the food was sooo good!! I had the best burrito I have ever eaten in my life and it was just this plain burrito. There was so much food too. What’s really surprising is that I’m not getting fat from all this food. I think I’m actually losing weight. It’s probably because Elder Corbin makes me go running with him every morning before our workouts. And the food is not deep fried and stuff like that. It’s pretty much rice and chicken for the most part. It is so beautiful here! There are so many trees it’s so insane!! Everything is green and it’s just so great, it do however miss those amazing Utah mountains. I want to see a mountain so bad and it’s only been 2 weeks haha. The first week was a definite long one. I had probably 10 million problems with my bike. But I didn’t let that get me down. I kept positive and slowly those things have gotten better. I can see that if I have a positive attitude that everything is so much different. The work here is going absolutely great!! The first week I was here there was a confirmation of a person who got baptized the week before. Later in the day there was a wedding, so that these people could get baptized. There are a few people who are going to get baptized in the next few weeks and we have a few investigators that I feel like will get baptized if we continue teaching them. The lord truly is hastening his work! It is so amazing out here teaching people. I can feel the spirit so strong as I talk to people and teach them. And it brings me so much happiness when I see that they are accepting our messages and are making changes in their lives. This past week I got to go to the temple in Raleigh. I LOVE temples! They are so beautiful, all in their own ways. It was nice that they spoke English there too, because in Mexico they don't. So it was nice to be able to understand people again. The Spanish is coming along really good still. I’m learning so much more now that I have a fluent companion. Well I love and miss all y'all!

Week five: August 15th 2013

 Things are going great! Everyday I’m amazed at how happy I am. The Spanish is still coming along; it’s amazing how the lord blesses his servants. I have that song (called to serve) practically memorized in Spanish now because of how many times we sing it hahaha.  Well I know that if you pray and read the scriptures the lord will tell you what you need to talk about. He does it for me daily, it’s amazing how every time I prepare something, it fits the investigator in some way, shape, or form. I WISH I COULD GO TO THE TEMPLE!!!! hahah but seriously it’s been a few weeks since I have been and I want to go so bad!! I don’t even care that it will be in Spanish I want to feel the amazing spirit that is in every temple! I’m so glad that I can enter the lord’s house! There is NO other feeling like the temple, it’s so amazing and I just want to be there all day every day. Or toda dia catta dia, as we like to say here which means that. Well I’m so glad that you like your job, being with kid’s everyday would be so fun. I miss seeing babies, there are a few of the mission people’s families that lives on campus and they have a baby but that’s the only one I have seen in so long!! Things are going so great; I can feel the lords help every day. I have classes pretty much all day, Spanish to how to teach and stuff and then more and more Spanish. Love you too!!! Have a great week

Elder Park 

well I hope you can get it all done in time for school! Well thank you so much!! I can’t wait to get state side and open that beautiful bag of Doritos... I want them sooooo bad you have no idea hahaha. Well I’m looking forward to opening my fun package haha. Well you can keep telling everyone that I am doing amazing, better than I ever have. Well I’m sorry that you cried, I will have to call you when I have a layover in Atlanta, hopefully you will be with everyone so I can talk to everyone. Well good job mommy keep working hard like me and we will both be different people when I get back.

 I really miss the lake right now I just want to jump in some water and go swimming. Well I want a cheeseburger so bad right now it’s crazy!!! I really miss Steve fries too, they have like no sauce here besides salsa and you know I don’t like salsa so I’m dying for some good Steve sauce. They have a ton of food here so I don’t really get too hungry it’s just not too good sometimes, it’s getting better though.( Bishop Jones bike wreck) OOOOO that doesn’t sound good!! That sucks in fact. Well that’s good that he is doing good still though.

Well this week was quite an event full week. Sunday we watch a movie every night and we watched the story of John Tanner. He is an amazing man, I don’t know where they got the movie from but I would encourage anyone to watch it, he did so much and had so much faith. In the end when Joseph smith was crying I lost it and may have teared up a little. It was an amazing story and I don’t know how I have never heard of him before. Being out here is some kind of next level stuff. Being surrounded by the gospel 24/7 is so great. It’s amazing how happy I am all the time. When I’m focused on the Lords work there is almost nothing that can bring down. I know it will be different in the field because all the people won’t be so nice and it will be a whole different experience but it is so amazing in here. Every morning I wake up and Instantly have a hymn in my mind and I just start humming or singing it, and everyone knows that I’m not a singer. But it’s so amazing how hymns bring the spirit so fast, I love the hymns they are the best music anyone can ask for. 

This mission has already changed me so much and made me appreciate life and the gospel so much more. Once that happens it’s amazing how happy a person can become, all I can say is the gospel is pure joy, when you’re having a bad day, get on your knees and pray because I promise you that he will help you, he has done so for me. One day I was having a pretty rough day and it was just bad and I prayed that heavenly father would give me something to be happy about or help me to be happy and for the rest of the day I had an amazing day. Prayer is such a powerful thing and I never really took advantage of the opportunity I had to talk with my Heavenly Father. The teachers tell us to not loose ourselves while teaching Spanish and the teachers are so glad me and my companion show our personalities. Not trying to brag at all but the few other companionships in our district and even in our zone ask us for help, because we do such a great job in our lessons because we connect with the people so well. Our teacher had us demonstrate a lesson in front of the class and stuff to try to teach the others. Before class started when we were sitting there our teacher read her notes about where "the investigator" is, which she said she never does, and it was great. After she said when she finds out that we are going to teach her a lesson she gets so excited because she said that every time we teach her she feels the spirit so strong and she just loves it. That was all yesterday and then after that we had TRC in which members come from the town and we teach them. While we were there some people were taking so long so we just taught our teacher. The lesson was about receiving revelation through the book of Mormon and while I was bearing my testimony in the lesson she leaned back (she was leaning forward and looking down so I couldn’t see her eyes) and I saw that she was crying. It was so amazing. It was a really powerful lesson. So now instead of having one teacher pretending to be and investigator we have 2. The lessons are going so well with them, one of them has committed to be baptized and the other we are going to ask tonight, but that’s the teacher we talked to earlier and after the last lesson when we were back in class she asked us why we didn’t ask last time, so I’m pretty sure she will agree to be baptized. We are doing so good in our lessons it’s so great. there is so much that I have learned already and I’ve only been gone a month  so one more thing is that the language is going great, it’s getting so much easier now. when I’m using the computer for tall,” idk” if you know what that is so it’s just a language assisting program the church uses, so I have never been able to do any grammar things because you have to know what the sentence says to even try to do the grammar for it, and this past week I have been able to do so much grammar because I can pick apart so many sentences to find out what they say. I’ve noticed that I’m really good at reading and listening to Spanish, but ask me to speak it and that’s a whole different story. So the language is going well love you guys sooo much and miss you all. talk to you in a week and next week I’m going to the temple again so I won’t have much time but I will try my best to make them as long as possible. So this is the last week I can be on my email as long as I want because next p day is my last one here. Nic

Week six: August 22nd 2013

Yeah I got the email and I sent a few back lol but the one with me and the temple in the back is the one I want, if that’s okay if not I can send one later. My favorite scripture is john 16:33. It’s about trials and peace because of the lord. It’s so weird to hear that you guys are going to school and all that. It doesn’t seem like it should be that time again already. Well I’m glad that you guys redid that room because that was too old for all of us ha ha. Well that’s good the garden is going great. I’m glad that’s all going good, then you guys can eat all the salsa you want. Well I’m probably going to get that letter in the states because I leave Monday morning (I’m pretty sure because that’s what my flight plans say) but I’ll know for sure probably tomorrow. I’m pretty sure you have a copy of my flight plans so you and dad can be ready for calls when I have a layover in Atlanta. So have your phones on when I should be there. Well I’m pretty sure I will because I have like 200 bucks and I’m sure the MTC will make sure that we are all squared away. Ha ha ha I will remember to obey the rules lol

Well I’m running out of time because I went to the temple today so I didn’t have as much time to email as usual so this one will be shorter. This week has been really great so far, but I just want to leave. The days seem so long because all I want to do is get out in the field and teach a real investigator. I don’t care that my Spanish is pretty bad, I just want to have a real lesson, plus my companion will be fluent so he can help me out with the language. I can’t wait to fly back to the states in four days, I’m going to eat like 4 cheeseburgers and a million Doritos ha ha. It’s funny how everyone in the family has said I bet you are going to eat a lot of Doritos, you bet that’s so true. I’m like having with drawls ha ha. I’m going to somewhat miss it here though, the CCM is so great, there are so many great people here that i have become friends with. I’m going to miss them. I’m going to miss being surrounded by the gospel 24/7, and how everyone here is nice, there are no swearing or crude things here. I absolutely love it here how spiritual it is. I’m sure I will have many spiritual experiences in the field, but here when you’re walking down the street people say hi and love you, out in the field sometimes people are going to swear and spit and hate. It’s surprising how happy I am here, when you’re surrounded by the gospel, you become so happy. I got my ministerial certificate yesterday  Nic

Oh yea I love the draper temple is so beautiful! I think every temple is beautiful though. Oh well I’m excited for you to go to the salt lake, that one is sooo amazing! The inside of that one has been my favorite so far of the 4 temples I’ve been to. That one is truly amazing, and when you go you get so much more love for the people who sacrificed everything to build it. well I just got back from the temple so I’m doing pretty good right now, this week has been pretty good too, it’s just long because I’m so excited to finally leave and get out into the field. The only thing that scares me is that it will be a real person that I am teaching, I can make or break their testimony and if I mess up I will feel so bad because some ones salvation is at stake. But on the other side if I do the right thing then I can’t even imagine the joy that I will feel because I helped someone come to Christ.  Well the same blood that I have runs in your veins so I know you can go out there and talk to those people and befriend them ha ha. I love you so much and miss you.

This is pretty much how the weather is everyday

Look I got to see some Football LOL

So This is an Elder we call him Father Barrow. Its soo funny

Nic Outside Mexico Temple

This is my district

Week Four: August 7th 2013

not really it seems like not too long ago that it was p day and i had the chance to email, and had a day to relax more. okay thank you for doing that for me i have no idea where on earth that stupid thing can be. it seems like i haven't even been here that long and im already about to go out into the field with real people. hey im reading it every day too!!! (the book of Mormon)  i started when i first got here and im in Mosiah so you are beating me!! ya it amazes me how fast the people lose faith in the book of Mormon. i have always though that if i ever saw half the stuff that they did then there is no way i could ever do half the stuff they did. its weird to hear that people are getting ready for school and stuff, Sara told me the day i get stateside is the day she heads out for byu. its going to be so weird seeing kids go to school and me not go to school. I miss the lake too.... those were always some of the funnest times with you guys. 

check out this nacho libre bike i got to sit on hahahahahha

My District Leader Wearing the Ugly Tie

 The temple is closed for a couple weeks so i don't think i will be able to go until the week before i leave. but today me and my companion after breakfast took a nap. that was amazing, i love p days so much, throughout the week there is so much stuff we have to do and it gets a little hectic and its nice to finally have a little day off. the mtc is starting to get kinda dull, its the same routine over and over again and it sucks because i just want to get out to the mission field and do work. i know that i need to be here though to learn more, especially Spanish. This past week was very roller coaster like. one day i would be feeling very low and then the next day i would get exactly what i needed and have a very spiritual day. Saturday was a rough day and it sucked, and then Sunday came around and it was my favorite day so far, the day was so spiritually filled it was crazy. in our devotional we watched a video of elder Holland at the Provo mtc and he told the story of peter after Christ died and how they went right back to fishing and how Jesus came to him and told him again to put down his nets and feed his sheep. and it hit me so hard that that is exactly what i am doing, i am going out to feed Christs sheep, and i cannot wait to do it. i know that i wont have a baptism every week or anything close to that but i cannot wait until i can see the joy in someones life when they change their life around and come unto Christ  i have seen how much joy it brings to me all the time knowing the gospel and i cannot wait until i can share that with others. we taught a member from the city yesterday and it was really cool. her name was Angelica. but it doesn't sound like how we say it in america hahaha. what was the really cool part is that when we taught her all we really could do was bare our testimonies because she was already a member so that's what we did. and we asked her how she felt about her savior and she went on talking for like 2 strait minutes and it was very cool. i understood like 10 words of what she said, but i knew that what she said was genuine and sincere. i felt the spirit so much while she was talking and it didn't matter that i couldn't understand her because the spirit was so strong in that room that i didn't need to. well have a good rest of the week and i will talk to you in a week!

1st Day at MTC in Mexico: July 16th 2013

i arrived in the mtc and im okay. my bags didnt make it however. they should be here tonight though. i love you all and already miss you guys. mexico is definitely different then the united states. it is insane  people drive so crazy and there are slums everywhere. everyone looks pretty poor. the mtc is really huge. i met a guy in salt lake who is also going to Raleigh the same time i am and he is in the mtc with me. i havent met my companion yet. sorry this is really choppy i just don't know what to say haha. if you could tell Brittney to try to send me all my friends emails so i can talk to them that would be great. i dont have anyone's email and i have an hour to be on the computer so i think i will have enough time. its so weird down here. i cant read anything and even the keyboard is different. bishop Ponse was right, almost nobody down here speaks English  it took us 15 minutes to explain to the guy who picked us up at the airport to explain that the airline lost our bags. i finally got my name tags, but i cant read them. this is going to be pretty hard trying to learn another language. im just saying random stuff now because i have no idea what to say yet. im hungry, but i guess you could have guessed that because im always hungry. so im pretty sure i left my debit card at home..... cuz i went to grab it on the plane so i could buy something but it wasnt there, so hopefully it is at home. luckily i had that gift card credit card so i could buy something to eat. don't send me any messages in Spanish because i dont understand it.

2nd Week: July 25th 2013

ya i found a few people that are going to Raleigh but they are in a different zone so i never see them most my zone is going to Texas  ya i have made friends with a lot of people and all the classes keep me busy so i don't have time to feel too homesick. i have become really good friends with the guys in my dorm, they are really fun and crazy but not as crazy as me haha. i got my bags the next day but it was just annoying to not have them. there is a lot of weird stuff here in mexico i have a lot of pictures that i took when i went to the temple today but i left that at the house so ill have to send them later or next week. thank you for the emails you are the best. i already miss you guys so much. its so weird here, but it still kinda feels like its just summer camp or something.

Me and my companion and our dorm mates quote nacho libre 24/7 its soooooooo funny!!!!  it has rained every single day i have been here. on the dot for like 5 days strait at 5 oclock it would rain.   most the questions were answered in that.  something that im starting to like is the food, most of the time its weird but im getting used to it. another thing i love is how cheap everything is!!!  we dont get to go outside the compound but there is a store here and everything is so cheap. the temple was amazing!! tell jamie that i love her and miss her big hugs. tell zach i miss him too. hahahaha miss you too and love you all

well i finally get my p day after this long week. i heard someone say on your mission days are weeks and weeks are days and it is so true. everyday feels like a million years but it feels like i just got here yesterday. its weird how it works because i feel like i havent been here long but i feel like i have known all of my roomates for a long time. they are all really cool and funny. my compañero is pretty cool. his name is elder steiner. we are gettting along great. it was crazy comming here because some people who work here speak english and some know a little but most dont know much at all. on the first day the teacher only said like 10 words in english. and whenever a teacher is talking to you they only speak spanish. it was definitely a big surprize to me. on the second day we had to teach an "investigator" ,who was just a teacher of another class, a lesson in complete spanish. that was so hard. i feel like i know nothing but at the same time i know so much. i can already pray and bare my testimony in spanish and can kinda told with people but for the most part its kinda hard. we have had to teach a lesson almost everyday. the teacher acts like an investigator that they had on there mission and they will only speak in spanish. its so hard teaching in a language that you dont know. my teacher said however that that is a blessing to not know much because then you cant go off on tangents all the time and most of what you can say is just what you planned. its starting to click so much however. the last lesson that me and my companion taught we had this lesson planned out and knew kinda what we were going to say and had things we wanted to talk about. then this new teacher came in while we were finnishing up and getting ready to go teach our investigator Gloria. so he comes over and says something in spanish which all i got was practice with me. so we taught him our lesson which wasnt very good because we dont know very much spanish. and then he said that it was good but asked if he could give us some advice and we said of course ya. then he leaned over and kindly flipped our papers over and just said think of a lesson like a testimony, then its not so hard. then he said teach me about the things you planned. and he made me and my companion just bare our testimonies back and forth about the things we wanted to talk about. and it felt way good. so then we go in to teach gloria and it was honestly the best lesson we have had. me and my companion said so many things that we didnt have planned and that we didnt really even know how to say, but the gift of tongues was evident in us we could understand what she was saying and what we were saying and then after we didnt know what just happened. it was so great. i am learning so fast and it is pretty fun. i got to go to the temple today. it is such a beautiful temple and it was so great. the only hard thing was that the entire thing was in spanish. the movie was the same though and it was funny because you could tell that the voices didnt match the people because it was in a different language then what they filmed it in. its going really well so far and im loving all the people i have met. its really weird being in a different country though. it smells way bad here. and there is always at least one gun shot sound in the night lol!! but dont worry we are in this place that is surrounded with this huge wall with barbed wire on top, and there is a lot of security personnel always looking out for us, and as always the lord is looking out for us.  the food has definitely been taking a while to get used too. most of it is really weird and of course there is always rice and beans and tortillas to make mini tacos. it is so much different here then back home, being surrounded by missionaries and Spanish  it is really good though. the spirit is always so strong here and had taught me so much. i miss you guys so much love you all

love

Elder Park

3rd Week: August 1st 2013

 i get up at 6:30 every morn and go to bed at 10:30 every night. well i can understand what they are saying most of the time now, its crazy how fast i learned how to talk and understand the basics. we just learn how to teach and how to speak spanish and how to conjugate verbs a TON!!!! ya its gone by super fast!!! no mexico hasent grown on me yet hahahaha but honetly the people are sooooo kind. real mexicans i like. american mexicans are annoying hahahahahahaha mexican food everday all day sept tuesday night is pizza night. we quote nacho libre todo dia catta dia.- all day every day!!! im going to get on again and send pictures and stuff so be on latter but mainly to do that.  ! i love you soooo much

Elder Park

well every day we have gym time and we can play basketball or soccer and they even have a football field but the football they have is flat so we cant play which makes me sad. i would kill anyone here for an egg mcmuffin. or a cheeseburger that sounds sooooooo gooooooooooood. haha  i know that look very well (deer in headlights), i experienced it again because when i went throught the temple it was in spanish and i had less of an idea what was going on that before. well talk to you guys in a week! and there is nooooooo way those are cars. they are way to loud. but a lot of the time they are fireworks, but you can tell the difference because the fireworks are really loud and the guns arent too loud. (in reference to hearing gunshots at night President Bigelow said it was cars backfiring) but police sirens are a constant. ooo i know the cars are junk lol except for this nice mustang i saw on the way to the temple

Elder Park

your letter was really nice to get and thank you for sending my travel plans i was legitly looking for them the day before and it bugged me that i didn't have them and then all the sudden i got it in the mail. so every other week we go to the temple so next week i wont have so much time to email, but i will make sure that i get one to you!! . my companion has a cord that connects to the computer so i can send stuff. also i wouldn't send anything in packages down her or my credit card because the mail is sketch and ya just wait till i get to the states hahaha. but the good part is that i got your mail in 10 days so that wasn't 2 weeks like they said it was going to take so don't send anything to mexico for the last week or so, so that i can receive it. i will be sure to email you. you guys had a family reunion? how was it? so did Braken not go first?  thank you i have been wanting to talk to him but i didn't have his email so i couldn't. frank emailed me but thank you anyways, idk if you guys know but he is going to Denver Colorado Spanish speaking. well i dont have my journal with me so i cant tell you a scripture that was good this week but next week i will write one down to come but i can tell you a story. yesterday we were supposed to teach real members from the city, but they never showed up so then we taught companions from our other district in our branch. and of course we get set up with the very cute hermanas. they taught there lesson and it was good then me and my companion went outside to talk about what we were going to teach because we thought we were going to teach some fresh converts and just kinda go over the first lesson again. but now we had to plan something else in like 2 minutes. and you know me and how i don't like surprises so i was just like awww crap. when we got in there i barely said anything and what i did say 90% of it was in English. so i was pretty upset about it and i just wanted to go back to my apartment and go to sleep but we had class so i couldn't. so we go to class and i just felt bad and didn't want to do anything and i was pretty upset with Spanish. so one of my teachers hermana plowman was teaching and we were going over prayer and why it is important for each of us and for our investigator. and she said that she felt earlier that she didn't really feel like teaching that lesson in Spanish for some reason. so she talked to other teachers about it and they said that they teach it in Spanish of course. but when she got into the room she just felt like she needed to do it in English. so she starts teaching in English and it made me so happy because i was done with Spanish for the night. and then she had us practice being investigators for another person in the room and then switch halfway. as my friend elder Curtis was teaching i felt the spirit so strong testifying of the truthfulness of his words. he was saying how the spirit will testify to you when you pray with real intent and how it is a comforter and it was just an amazing experience. even though we were pretending to be other people he taught me and touched my heart so much. and then we switched places and i was the teacher. it made me so happy i cant even explain to be able to teach in English again. i could say everything i thought of and have no problem saying it. and as i was teaching him i felt so great about what i was saying and the spirit was so strong. before class i just felt like crap and then after that amazing class i was so happy. the spirit truly is a comforter and will bring peace and happiness in our lives. after the lesson the teacher told us that she didn't know why she felt so strongly about teaching in English but i know why. i was having a tough time and god knew that i needed that that night. he really does know each one of us and loves each one of us. so the blogg sounds good with me. you guys can put up all the pictures i take and stuff. i love you too!!!! and miss you guys a lot. i obey most of them ahhahahaa we just usually roll out of bed a few minutes past 6:30
Elder Park

Nic and some missionaries from the MTC