Continuing the Work: Floods and Fulfillment

What a week. It started a little bit crazy... On Tuesday night, Sister Eyerly and I were finishing getting her packed and doing what we could to clean the apartment until about 10:30, then we realized what time it was, panicked about accidental disobedience, and got ready for bed as fast as we could. We were finally in bed, and at about 11 o'clock, we heard a terrible noise upstairs. It sounded like someone broke down a door or something and had come into the house... We both froze. Then all of a sudden we heard some noise down in OUR part of the house. The creep could be inside our apartment and Sister Richardson (the sweet lady we live with) wouldn't hear a thing because she had her hearing aids out and she was in bed! So I grabbed a heavy-weight flashlight, ready to BEAT the intruder, and headed out into the apartment. Good new is, it wasn't a human. It was water. There was water dripping from the ceiling vent conveniently into our kitchen sink, so Sister Eyerly and I ran upstairs to see what was going on. In the upstairs kitchen, a pipe under the sink had burst or something and was spewing water EVERYWHERE. The kitchen was quickly flooding - water was under the stove, under the sink, in the cupboard, and creeping toward the living room. I ran and got Sister Richardson, or almost slipped on the water, and we did our best to soak up the water with towels. Eventually, we found an emergency stop lever thing and were able to stop the water, but the mess was ridiculous. Long story short, they cleaned up the water upstairs, and I was in charge of the downstairs. Water was seeping out of the walls downstairs and our entire kitchen was flooded as well. So... That was a fun last night for Sister Eyerly. We were up for a couple more hours trying to get everything wiped up so there wouldn't be too much water damage, but the stuff in the walls and in the ceiling downstairs, we just couldn't do anything about. So far, it hasn't been a problem, so let's hope it stays that way. :P

On Wednesday, transfers happened. Sister Depew was coming from Columbia River in Portland, and that's where Sister Eyerly was going, so our transfers were pretty quick. It was fun though because we got to watch the transfer meeting via skype from the Tongan meetinghouse in Portland. One of the new missionaries was Elder King... The connection was kind of bad, so it skipped around a lot, but I'm pretty sure it was Braden King from High School! That is so exciting. I love having fellow Vikings serving in my same mission. It's so fun to have a High School family and a Mission Family, and it's even better when there are members and friends that belong to both. :) I hope I get to see him soon! My new companion, Sister Depew, is amazing. I absolutely adore her. We are seriously gonna have the best transfer of my whole mission together because the end is so near for the both of us, and we are DETERMINED to not waste a single second of it.

"Me and Sister Eyerly"

"Me and Sister Depew"

Besides the ACTUAL flood, my soul was flooded with the Spirit this weekend! General Conference!!!!!! Oh boy, it was truly amazing, wasn't it? Much like the Conference in October, every single talk that was given this time around was an answer to one of my questions. I had a couple questions that I went into General Conference with, and every single one of them was answered multiple times. I love the way that inspiration works. How funny was it that most of the talks in Conference were about marriage and families? I personally loved it because there is nothing I want more in this life than an eternal family, and nobody gives better advice and council when it comes to those things than the Prophet, Apostles, and General Authorities. I absolutely loved General Conference. It's strange to think that I'll be home for the next one though...

"Still making sure I keep that tradition!"

Another fun thing that I got to do this week was play some classical music on a grand piano at an old folk home. Playing the piano is always fulfilling to my soul, but especially when I am playing and there are cute little old people cheering for me and applauding me while they eat their dinner at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Hahaha. One man came and sat next to the piano and would yell out things like, "Wooooo EEE! You tickle those ivories, girl!" He's kind of my favorite. They invited me back, so I think we are going to make this a weekly thing.

I have one last experience to share. Ever since being in this area, we have attended an Addiction Recovery Meeting. Three weeks ago, one of the ladies in the meeting received a 1-Year Sobriety coin, and we all passed it around and it was a very cool moment for her. Well, this Wednesday when we attended, it was Sister Depew's first time. To make a long story short, she knows the lady that just earned her coin! She taught her once in one of her previous areas! She said that at the beginning of her mission, this lady was living in her car, didn't have custody of her children, and was pretty much crazy because she was ALWAYS hopped up on drugs. She said that seeing her was shocking because she was so cleaned up, she is President of the Oxford house she is currently living in, and she is able to have her kids with her. It's a huge transition! After the meeting, the sweet lady came up to Sister Depew and told her that she had saved her life. One night about 13 months ago when she was homeless and dealing with all of the crazy that comes with a drug-filled life, she thought to pray. She lifted her hands up in the air and said, "Jesus, I need a miracle!" Not 30 seconds later, Sister Depew and her companion called. They had never talked to her before, she was just a potential investigator in the phone whose name they didn't recognize. GOD DOESN'T DO RANDOM!!!! The lady said that after that phone call, she felt like she could really change her life around. So she did. And here we are. Isn't that amazing?!

I just love how the Lord puts people into our lives, and puts us into others lives at the exact moment they need us. It is because He loves us each so individually and so perfectly. I sometimes can't believe that He cares so much about me, but then I open my eyes a little wider and see the many things He is blessing me with, and I KNOW He loves me. It's just such an amazing feeling to be infinitely loved by a Heavenly Father. He has SO much to be dealing with, and yet He takes the time to show ME how much He cares about me. I love Him.

One last thing: check out this website -

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/two-faiths-find-common-ground-at-vancouver-washington-easter-concert

It is an article in the Church News about an event that is put on every year in my last area. It is called, "The Life of Christ," and it is a super huge deal! It's amazing, and I will definitely be coming back to see it again. I love you! Keep serving the Lord with all your might. :) I will talk to you next week!

Love Always,

Sister Nicole Guilott

P.S. More Pictures!

"I LOVE THIS."

"I saw this picture in a temple somewhere a couple years ago, and I haven't found it since then. But Sister Depew had it on her iPad! Woo Hoo! I LOVE this depiction of Christ and Mary."

"This is Nephi and His wife and son on the ship just after Laman and Lemuel have cut him down from the mast. I loved it. I have never really thought of this moment until now, but it opened up so many more details to think about as I read the scriptures."