Hump DAAAY!!!‏

Holy smokes, I have 9 months left. Where did the time go? I hit my Hump Day on the 22nd, which was a Wednesday (a real hump day!), and I am thoroughly confused. But I'm excited at the same time! It rained like crazy that day, and apparently it was record rain! Which is saying a lot because this is Vancouver. Haha! Check out my Hump Day attire!

Thank you Clark and Mindy for sending me this wonderful shirt!

I am super sorry if this email is scattered and short, but we recorded another song for a new parody we hope to post in the next couple weeks, so all my time was spent editing. Sorry! I'll do my best! So my Hump Day was super fun! Our investigator family of 3, Erica and her daughters Guddi and Riya made me a hump day cake! We had several very spiritual lessons with them this week, and they are definitely coming closer and closer to Christ. They learn and comprehend so quickly! It's wonderful!

Riya and me with my cake!

Guddi got excited during the "Happy Hump Day" Song.  Haha!

Me and the compy!

Needless to say, I can already tell that the time is going faster... And it's only been a few days! It's strange because, like Sister Borchardt told me, the time goes fast because 2 transfers from now will be my year mark, and 2 transfers after that will mean I only have 2 transfers left! So everything is counted in twos lately. Very strange to think about... 

This was a wonderful "half way there" week. On Tuesday night, we taught a Bible Study at this "rehab after rehab" place. We have 6 consistent residents who attend, and every once in a while, someone new will show up and listen to what we have to say. We taught Mark chapter 1 this week, and the class loved it! Everyone got so involved and excited talking about Marks bluntness when it came to the Doctrine of Christ. He gets straight to the point and doesn't mess around! Baptism is crucial for salvation! It was fun. :) 

On Wednesday, we had a really great zone meeting where President Andersen, one of the counselors from the Mission Presidency, attended and spoke to us for a good hour about missionary work. He is a very wise man, actually, I'm comfortable saying he is the most intelligent human being I have ever met. He knows EVERYTHING. He has a photographic memory too, so that's unfair. But anyway, he said things in the meeting that day that just made me want to run out of that building and teach with passion to everyone I saw! I'll share only one of the many quotes:

"In your moments of decision, your destiny is shaped!"

Wise words, President Andersen. Wise, wise words. He also told us that one of the number one ways to get into houses is by asking people if we can use their restroom, or if they wouldn't mind giving us a drink of water, or even food! We laughed very hard at that one. Those are things missionaries ALWAYS need, but when people offer, we usually get shy and say no thanks. Instead of asking people for food this week, we brought it to them! We made Halloween cookies for a bunch of members of the Ward and investigator families! Yes, I made them!!!

It was great fun! :) Oh my goodness, Emily! Did you know there was a tornado up here for the first time EVER?? Tornado in the Longview area... I wished I was there so I could tell you I experienced your worst nightmare. ;) Love you M&M! 

Sorry, I got sidetracked. We had several amazing follow the promptings of the spirit moments. I'll just share one for the sake of time. On Saturday, we were parked on a street downtown (downtown is super sketch, ALWAYS) trying to figure out which of our plans would be best for that moment, and this strange guy walked up across the street from us. He was seemingly normal, but both Sister Borchardt and I suddenly had a terrible terrible feeling in the pit of our stomachs. It was... Disgust and fear. It was super windy that day (we had passed multiple big thick oak trees that had fallen over and crushed a few houses), and as soon as we got the feeling, a huge tree fell over behind the man onto the road, which we took as another sign for us to get out of there and back onto a main road. So we high tailed it out of there. Not an hour later, the sun was down, and we were driving to an appointment downtown. We passed that same icky feeling street and there was caution tape, cops cars, and cops EVERYWHERE. When we got to our appointment, the woman said cops had come by and asked people to stay in their houses because there was a murder and they didn't want everyone involved. ...WHAT??? You guys, God loves us. He gave us an icky feeling followed immediately by a tree falling over. He couldn't have been more clear that we needed to NOT be there. It was crazy!

Okay Mom, now that I've scared you, I'll tell about another Spiritual experience. :) Sunday night, we went over to a newer investigator's house with the Zone Leaders to give her a blessing. She is just recently deciding that maybe she believes in God, and only since she had a miscarriage in August... But she has been struggling a lot. She's a tough cookie, so you can't really tell she is having a hard time, but that night it was clear. It was clear because of the reaction she had to our Zone Leader, Elder Tauteoli, and the testimony he bore. He was so intense, but so real. He KNOWS that this work is the most important thing in the world, and he KNOWS that God expects us to follow Him so that we can live with Him again and be eternally happy. I can't describe it to you in words, but it was truly amazing. Definitely one of the most powerful and spiritual lessons I have experienced on my mission. I was speechless. All I could do was near testimony to what he was saying. I wish I could describe it better! She was crying and the spirit was so present in the room, I could almost reach out and touch it. I love those moments. 

I'm really sorry, but I gotta go! This week was amazing! I am so grateful for the experiences I have had on my mission thus far, and I am thrilled to find out what God has in store for me in the next 9 months to come! Halloween is this weekend! Yay! I'll be sure to send better Halloween pictures next time, but for now, this is what you get! Haha, I love you! Keep praying!

Love,

Sister Nicole Guilott

Those black dots on the floor on the right are spiders...hehe...

Shelob's web!

Smeagul looking at Shelob . . . she's pretty treacherous!

My eyes are gone!  Happy Halloween!

Ba Ba Ba Ba - I'm Lovin' It!‏

Okay okay okay. President Taylor is ALWAYS right. He follows inspiration like none other, and I am very grateful for that. I was SO upset that I was having to leave my area of Evergreen and my phenomenal companion who I just love so dearly, but God knows best. My new area is wonderful. Not very rich, but that makes the people more humble and better prepared for the Gospel. My new companion, Sister Borchardt, is amazing. She is very down to earth, but also has a silly side, like me! Isn't she cute?

We are very hard workers, and I am so glad that we have been put together right now. This transfer is going to be wonderful! We had 23 lessons since I got here on Wednesday, so the work is really progressing and people are ready for the Gospel! We had a miracle already too. A big one. About 3 weeks ago, Sister Borchardt and her companion were at the church for something when the church phone rang. Ya know, the one on the wall that no one ever uses. Anyway, they answered the phone, and on the other line was a man who said he didn't know why, but he was seeking truth, and he thought it was in our church... WHAT?! They taught him twice over the phone, but he lived in Olympia, so they sent the referral over to the missionaries up there. However, he was moving! Guess where he moved? Here to Vancouver! In our area! We talked to him on the phone again on Friday, and he said that he wanted to be baptized. He came to church and he is the SWEETEST man in the whole world. His name is Austin. He was kind and wonderful at church, and he is very excited to learn even more and progress towards baptism. Isn't that great? I love love love what this work entails. Miracles around every corner, and happiness all the time!

Saying goodbye to Evergreen was hard. I loved it there so much! And SO much was happening! But that's okay, because God's work will go forward no matter what. One of our sweet investigators in Evergreen is on date for baptism for November 15th, so we will be going back to attend that. :) This is her on the right, Alexis. Her best friend and fellowhipper, Olivia, is on the left.

We became close friends with many of the members in that ward too. The picture with the jelly and jello in a jar comes from a member who I told our cousin Michael Pickard's story about the jiggling of his companions fat to make him angry. They thought it was hilarious and every time we went over they would imitate grabbing each others tummies and jiggling. So they gave us jelly and jello for "anger emergencies only." It was cute. :) 

Grandma Andersen (an awesome lady in Evergreen who would always drive us around last minute) took us out to eat 2 days in a row. The first was at the Stardust Diner, which was super adorable, and the second was at Applebee's. They are so fun! Brother Andersen was in Twilight because he has a bunch of vintage looking cars, so I took a picture with one of the cars that was in Twilight. He told us stories of eating lunch on set with Rob Pattinson and Kristen "what's her name? She was always dead looking." Haha they're the best.

Sister Nuffer. I don't know if I have talked about her before, but I adore her with all my life. She is so much fun, and she would always me and Lammi's back if we needed her for something. This picture is of the 3 of us with her husband and her dog, Wendy. I love Nuffuffer! The picture after that is with all the missionaries in the Evergreen Ward and our Ward Mission Leader's family. That ward was just so great! I'm gonna miss it a lot. 

This new area though... I have never been so excited for an area right off the bat than I am for this one. There is SO much work to be done, and so much success is going to be seen here. I can FEEL it everywhere we go: people are begging to be brought to Christ. Truly. The ward is small with only 32% activity, but it is so wonderful! Sister Borchardt was telling me that we teach a Bible Study class for people who are just out of rehab at a rehabilitation center every Tuesday night. :) I am very excited for that tomorrow. Also, we have a few investigators at a Mental Institution nearby, and we are allowed to go to the hospital in our area to teach those who ask for it. It's all very exciting! It was funny because since being here, especially on Sunday when I met the majority of the ward, everyone knew me by my video. :P It was kind of strange... but a good strange of course! My Bishop said he shared it in BYC and told everyone in 3rd hour at Priesthood to go home and watch it. It's so much fun! 

Ultimately, I'm a tad bit embarrassed about my whining and complaining from last week... Yes, I'm sad to not be in Evergreen, but I am much too excited about this new area to even worry about it! I love this work so so much, and I am so grateful for the chance I have to serve here in the Vancouver 1st Ward. This transfer is going to be AMAZING! And guess what? Next week is my 9 months! Woot Woot!

Love Always,

Sister Nicole Guilott

P.S. I found a magnifying glass. 

Broken Hearts and New Starts

The title of this post automatically makes you sad doesn't it? I'm sorry... But it's for good reason. Because there really truly are at least 2 broken hearts here in Vancouver, Washington... That would be myself and my dear companion Sister Lammi. We are broken hearted. Transfer letters came... And we are both being transferred... She is one of my best friends! I adore her, and now we are being separated! We really thought we would be together for a long time because we were white washed into the area, but it's only been a transfer, and now they are not even having Sisters in this Ward... Just Elders. We are so sad. We've been in mourning ever since we found out. So yes, we have broken hearts, but the good news is that we will still see each other because we are in the same mission, and we live close enough to Washington that we can visit these people whenever. It will be fine... Right?

The other reason our hearts are broken is because Samantha fell off date when she found out about us leaving. She isn't comfortable learning about the Gospel from boys her same age... That made us worried that most of our teaching pool will be dropped because most of them are female youth. Either their parents have said no Elders, or they might not feel comfortable talking about spiritual things to
boys... It's so sad.

"My dearest Lammi-Lou and myself.  I'm going to miss her terribly!"

But not everything is miserable! Things in the Evergreen Ward will be okay. The Lord won't leave His children alone to wander, especially after they have found their path toward righteousness and eternal salvation! The good things from this week include the wonderful new film, "Meet the Mormons." We got to go to the mission office on Wednesday and watch the film before it came out in theaters so we could know what it is. It was great! It is very helpful and informative for those who don't really know what we believe or who we are. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you go see it at least once! Bring someone with you who isn't a member of the church so they can know just how normal we are! It's interesting to find so many people who think we are a cult or weirdies who don't drink soda or watch movies... We are normal people! Anyway, the movie was good, and I am excited to hear what nonmembers think of it. :)

So I guess I should probably tell you where I am being transferred to. :P I am going to the Vancouver West Stake in the 1st Ward with Sister Borchardt. I have heard only good things about her, so it should be good. After a weekend of mourning and pondering the reason for transfers, Sister Lammi and I have realized that this is what needs to happen. There are A LOT of crazy changes going on in the mission as of late, and most of the time things happen that we don't understand. But we don't need to understand. That's the great thing about the Lord: He knows everything and He is always going to put us in places that will be best for us. I sure love Him.

I apologize for this short and sad email, but we are going to be super busy today because of packing, saying goodbye to people, and preparing for transfers. Know that I love this ward and I am sad to be leaving it, but I know that whatever is in store for me next is crucial and where I need to be. I love my mission, and I appreciate all of the support and prayers that you are offering in my behalf. I love you!

Love Always,

Sister Nicole Guilott

"Holding a giant stuffed bear while trying on potential Halloween costumes."

"This is how I feel EVERY time a bird a near me.  I had  to share it because
there have been quite a few "bird scares" this week.  Why do birds hate me?!?!"

DISCOVERY!

I have never felt more shock and surprise in my life. The positive kind of shock and surprise that is. I've never felt so many different emotions over the course of one week either! Shock and surprise, excitement, pain and hurt, humility, charity and love, confusion, gratitude, and so much more! This week was just packed with all sorts of craziness and goodness all over the place!

It started off with a super fun Pday activity, which was hiking through the Ape Caves, or the lava tunnels of St. Helens! It. Was. AWESOME!!! We were crawling through crevices between rocks, hiking piles of rock, free climbing little but steep cliffs in the middle of the caves, and praying the dumb volcano didn't decide to erupt. It was pitch black dark the whole time which was SO cool, and I basically felt like Gollum throughout the duration of our hike. When we came out at the top, I felt like I wanted to crawl back into my cave with my fellow Smeagul's and hide there till pday was over. Haha! Nah, it was super fun all the way around. And we went with 3 zones, so that made it even better!

"On our way to the caves!"

"Coming out of the cave!"

"We did it!" 

"The 3 zones after we conquered the caves!"

We had at least 3 very cool spiritual experiences this week. The first one was on Wednesday, when we had a lesson with one of our newest investigators, Sam! She was so sweet and listened intently to the whole lesson, asking good questions and talking about things that she wanted. Like a good relationship with God, and to follow Him. Her great grandmother (who she lives with) was there the whole time, and contributed wonderfully by bearing her testimony about prophets and helping Sam to see that she can receive an answer for herself. It was great! By the end of the lesson, we had set her on date for baptism for October 25th! Woo Hoo! She really is the sweetest girl ever. After the lesson, I helped her with her math homework, which was really refreshing. I love math now that I don't have to worry about a grade!

The following evening, we had a lesson with a less active family in the ward. I think I talked about them a little bit last week... The Jenkins? Well they are AWESOME. I love going to their house because they always have such fun things to talk about. Brother Jenkins is a fan of making wacky foods, so he said they would have us over for dinner sometime and I could try things like cow tongue and goat stew and what not. Anyway, we talked about Helaman 5:12 (my favorite scripture), and it was a pretty powerful lesson. At the end, we invited Xander (the 11 year old) to be baptized on November 15th, and he said he'd be willing to work towards that. We are so excited! He's such a sweet kid, and it will be so nice to teach him while also teaching his whole family. I love it!

After that lesson, we went over to a dear Sisters house in the ward who needed a blessing. She is one of my favorite people. Her name is Nikkii Trana and I adore her! Our ward mission leader, Brother Hardy, gave her the blessing, and I am so glad I was there! I can't exactly remember everything that was said, but it was a POWERFUL blessing! I do remember him saying that Nikkii knew Sister Lammi and myself in the pre-existence and that is why she had such a strong connection to the two of us. That was pretty cool. But anyway, the feeling in the room while he was giving her that blessing was something else. A very special experience that I will cherish forever. Not to say that all blessings aren't spiritual and powerful, but this one was just... different.

Nikkii was kind enough to lend us two of her bikes and helmets, so we have been riding bikes for the past few days! It has been SO. FUN. We enjoy it a little too much. Haha! I didn't take any pictures this week, but I'll be sure to post some next time!

On Friday, we had exchanges, and this was one of the best ones ever! I was with Hermana Villalobos here in Evergreen, and Sister Lammi went with Hermana Clanton to their "area" (aka all of Vancouver). It was so fun! And so enlightening too! Here's a picture of the 4 of us afterwards:

By the time we went on exchanges, my parody video had been up for like 4 days, and it was viral! That is the reason I've been so shocked and surprised! While I was home during that 3 week period, my dearest Auntie Linda Marie showed me the song, "All About That Bass" by Meghan Trainorand I LOVED it! I had been thinking about what ways we could, as missionaries, better share the Gospel on the internet, and this song kind of jumped at me. It fit so perfectly with "All About That Book," so I HAD to turn it into a parody. And I have the perfect companion to do it with! We were kind of just expecting to put it on Facebook to show the missionaries in our mission and maybe some friends and family who would take the time to watch our silly little video... We were never expecting it to go VIRAL!!!! We are super grateful it did though! Oh, here it is, just in case you haven't had the chance to see it yet.

All About That Book03:07

It's okay, right? We sure had fun making it! The reaction to this video has been wonderful! People asking for copies of the Book of Mormon, asking to take the discussions, wanting to know more about who we are and what we are about! That was exactly the intention! Please share with all that you know, and invite them to read this wonderful book! It WAS on YouTube, but we were asked to remove it for now. So if you would like to share it through a link, just give the link above that takes you to my Facebook page. Sorry about the inconvenience! But we strive for exact obedience because it brings miracles!

The reaction to this video has also helped me discover some of the things that I should do with the rest of my life. It's amazing the inspiration God gives us through things that are important to us. He knows me perfectly, and the way He has answered my prayers this past week has been almost unbelievable. I am baffled by His love for me and His desire for me to find happiness. I love Him so much.

General Conference was by far the best part of the week! Yes, better than having my video become viral. Every single talk from General Conference applied exactly to me and the questions I had about what I was feeling. I had been thinking that maybe I discovered what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, and General Conference not only confirmed that it was right, but also gave me instructions on exactly how to get started and how to keep God involved. It was my favorite General Conference ever! Well... I mean, they're all good, but this one just applied so completely to what I was asking God. Not just one or two talks, but every last one of them! It was so good!!!!

"Keeping up the tradition of Cinnamon Rolls on Conference Day!  Never mind Bonnie's
ubber creepy shadow is in the background...haha!  Halloween's acomin' I suppose!"

I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father and for the immense love He has for me. I know that He knows me perfectly and that He answers prayers. This week has been such a testament of that! I PROMISE that He knows you and He wants you to come to Him in prayer so that He might be able to show you more clearly that He loves you. This was a week of discovery and heightened emotion, and it couldn't have been better. I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Love Always,

Sister Guilott

*insert picture with words