Saying Goodbye to my Mission Birthplace

We got our letters this week... Our transfer letters. Turns out I am
being transferred to Portland. The Portland East Stake and Columbia
River Ward to be exact. I have so many mixed emotions about it, I just
don't even know what to do with myself! I am getting a marvelous
companion, Sister Duff, and I'm so excited to be among "the weirdos."
That is what Portland is known for, ya know. Land of the freaks. Haha
so really they're all my people! ;) I'm excited to go to a new place
and have new experiences and meet new people, but Lacamas Creek is my first area! My baby area! I was born here, so naturally it's very difficult to leave. But what a wonderful week to be my last here! Let
me tell you about it:

Monday night was awesome! We had a fantastic Family Home Evening with our sweet investigator, Eva, at her neighbor's house (who are
members). We watched "Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration,"
the hour long video for FHE. After the movie was over, the parents and
5 daughters all bore testimony about Joseph Smith. It was touching. :)
Eva is such a sweet spirit, and she is definitely progressing towards
baptism in the church, she is just going at her own pace. I am so
happy to know her! She is a blessing in the loves of every single
person who meets her. She brought me and Sister Rasmussen flowers that she cut from her yard! What a sweetheart she is.

On Tuesday night, we went to the Skaugstad's house. We have had a hard
time teaching in that home because they are kind of FORMER
investigators, but we haven't given up, and on Tuesday we made
strawberry jam with them! We took a sweet sister named Katie Burbank
from the ward with us that night. She had just turned her papers in
(and she now has her call and is going to Bangkok Thailand), and has
been coming with us to appointments to get ready for her mission! It
was fun. To share a spiritual thought, we sang songs while Sister
Rasmussen played her ukelele. Hymns of course. :) What a fun night!
And it was rewarded with yummy homemade jam!

On Wednesday, we went to Keith and Gabrielle's house and helped them
paint the house for a long time. I'm sorry I don't have pictures with
them yet, they are some of my absolute favorite people in the whole
world. I'll be sure to get pictures for next week. That night, we had
a phenomenal lesson with the Rodriguez family that happened because we
followed the promptings of the spirit. We read a chapter in the Book
of Mormon, Alma 32, and afterwards I asked if we could
go around and all bear our testimonies. We had another potential
sister missionary from the ward with us that night too, and she said
all the right things. Isaac, the nine year old, bore his testimony
first and said simply, "I know the Book of Mormon is real." I could
have died and gone to Heaven right there and then. Everyone bore
testimony, and it was a perfect night. Oh I love what the Spirit does
for people. It just makes them all so happy!

Friday was magical. We woke up super early in the morning and drove
with Sister Archer to the Portland temple. It was amazing. There is
not a better feeling than being in the house of The Lord. I felt so at
peace in there! The mission is wonderful and I love every second of
it, but it was so nice to just relax in the temple for a few hours and
feel close to my Heavenly Father. I am so grateful that we got to go
on Friday. It was such a blessing! I wish I could just live at the
temple! It is always so perfectly clean and pure and peaceful and I
love it so much!

On Saturday, we had a mission conference sort of a thing. All the
missionaries in the mission seemed to be there except the ones in very
faraway places like Seaside. It was fun to see the missionaries from
my MTC district! It was only 2 hours lomg, but it was good.
Brother Randall L. Ridd and Elder Robert Call came and spoke to us. I think one is of the Sseventy and the
other is in the General Young Men's presidency. I'm not sure. Anyway,
it was a really good meeting filled with lots of insight about
missionary work. I quite enjoyed it.

Lots of miracles happened on Saturday too. We now have 2 people on
date! The first is Tony, who was supposed to be baptized last month
but didn't want to put in the effort, and the other is our 17 year old
investigator named Sam. That one was cool. We went to her house to
teach her, and before we even started, she said, "Ya know what's
weird? I've never been baptized. I know it's really important though,
and I'd really like to be baptized eventually." We kept our cool and
said, "We can definitely help you get there." She is on date for
August 23rd! It was awesome. We also ended up contacting some less
actives in the ward that nobody else has been able to contact. They
are sticky situations, and not even ward members have had much contact
with them. We thought maybe we should stop by and leave a stickie note
on the door or something, but they both answered, and they both
invited us to come back! It was cool.

Yesterday, we went to a baptism with our investigator, Sharon. Oh I
love her. She asked some really good questions, took a Book of Mormon,
felt the spirit, and felt like the only difference between our
churches seemed to be Joseph Smith. Haha she is the best. The baptism
was incredible! The speakers were awesome, and everything they said
was just perfect and exactly what Sharon needed to be taught. I loved
it! God knows exactly how His children learn and feel, and He helped
those speakers prepare their talks for Sharon. I know it.

This really was a wonderful week to end on! So many awesome things
happened, and I had some lovely goodbyes with my sweet Lacamas Creek
people. I'm going to miss them, but it'll be good to start a new
adventure in Portland. I hope everyone had a good week, and that this
next week is even better! Remember to keep Heavenly Father close! And
for those of you who took up President Taylor's Book of Mormon
challenge, that ends on Wednesday! I hope everyone is reading the Book
of Mormon! It is truly inspired. I love you!

Love,

Sister Nicole Guilott

P.S. Here are some more pictures from this week. Cool things and
wonderful people!

"Prepping the chicken to feed to some wild hawks!"

"The meat sitting on top of the post waiting for the hawks to eat it."

"A sweet retired horse named Duke"

"HORSE SELFIE! Haha!"

"I just love Weasley...and clearly he loves me too!"

"Bettie Grange.  The sweetest woman on earth!"

"The Treasure's.  So cute!"

"Sister Fanning! The hawks are in her backyard.  I love her!"

"Sam Bessas from Laous.  She is the angel who introduced me to Rambutans.  I adore this sweet woman!"

"Rodger and Yvette.  This picture says it all."

"The Combs.  Such a blessing to have lived in their home for the past 4 1/2  months.  I will miss them!"

"God Doesn't Do Random"

President Taylor has this signature saying, "God doesn't do random."
As I have gone throughout my short 4 months of my mission, I have
often thought of that saying when we meet a new investigator in an
accidental situation, or when something comes out of my mouth that I
feel was not intended and that is later acknowledged as the comment
that brought someone to the Gospel, or simply in reference to things
that are "coincidences" with a miraculous outcome. However, this past
week I saw that phrase in a new light...

On Tuesday morning, all of the Sisters in the mission were invited to
attend a "Specialized Sister Training," which was basically a mission
conference, but for only the Sisters. When we got there, Sister Taylor
asked me to play some prelude music, and as I was sitting at the piano
playing hymns, she told me that I was the one who gave her the idea to
have this training meeting. I was confused... What had I said that led
her to that? During her talk at the beginning of the meeting, I
understoond. Back when Sister Rasmussen and I were having an
exceptionally hard time, we went up to the mission home so that I
could talk to Sister Taylor alone about everything, and in that little
meeting with her I expressed how I felt like so many Sisters were
being sent home for any and every reason! I guess her thought process
stemmed from that, and she decided a Specialized Sister Training would
be very beneficial. Back when I decided to go to the mission home to
talk to her, I felt like a loser. I felt wimpy and like I was going to
be judged by both my companion and Sister Taylor for asking to talk to
her that day. But if I hadn't, she never would have come up with the
idea to have a Sister Training. God doesn't do random.

While we were all at this Specialized Sister Training, Sister Taylor
needed help running the technical stuff (the computer, projector,
sound, etc.), and I happened to be standing there when she mentioned
how worried she was about not knowing what to do about it. I told her
I am good with techy stuff, and I became the designated technician for the
day. :) I sat over in my own pew in the chapel next to the computer
and projector and ran the show. It was fun! God doesn't do random. Now
wait, this goes somewhere I promise.

For the hour and a half just before lunch, we went into our "Break-Out
Sessions," which means smaller classes for individual purposes. My
group had President Taylor's class last, and about half way through
our class, Sister Taylor opened the door crying and said to President,
"I need you. It's an emergency." President went right out the door and
told us to continue on our own. As the door was closing behind him, we
heard him say, "She WHAT?" None of us had ever heard him sound so
upset. It scared us! So I volunteered to say a prayer of comfort for
whatever had just happened and asked that President would be able to
handle the situation with peace. We stayed in that room by ourselves
until lunch. Everyone was gathered in the cultural hall filling their
plates with taco salad when President came into the room, got our
attention, and announced that a Sister in our mission named Sister
Lierley had passed away. The feeling in that room was indescribable.
Some Sisters gasped loudly and burst into piercing sobs, others cried
silently, and nobody said a word. President left to go to the
hospital, and we all sat silently in the cultural hall, the only sound
a quiet sniff as we tried not to make our tears noticeable. The
sobbing sisters left the room and were in classrooms and bathrooms
crying elsewhere. Nobody touched their food or spoke a word.
Eventually, "Lead Kindly Light" broke out in the cultural hall and all
the Sisters sang hymns for about half an hour. Finally, some Elders
came in and told us we were going to meet up in the chapel to continue
our meeting, and they encouraged us to eat something. I couldn't. A
lot of Sisters were having a really hard time, but because their
fellow Sisters and friends were present, the were able to be comforted
and feel a bit more at peace. The fact that we were all joined
together as Sisters in the mission when one of our Sisters passed
away, was not a coincidence. God doesn't do random.

There were balloons set up for the Sister Training as decorations that
we ended up being able to use for a balloon release for Sister
Lierley. We never have balloons! God doesn't do random. I was the one
to record the balloon release, and it gave me an idea. I volunteered
to put together a tribute video for Sister Lierley and her family, as
a contribution from the mission. I like making videos, so I knew I
could probably put something together by the following Pday (which
would be today). After I offered, they ended up wanting it before the
funeral which is today, so on Wednesday night I stayed at the mission
home in the general authority bedroom, and spent from 8:30 am the next
day to 9:45 pm. I still wasn't done, so I stayed the night with some
of the office missionaries and finished it in the morning. I did my
best for the short amount of time that I had, but I think it was a
good way to show how much we love Sister Lierley. I think they played
it at the funeral today... I needed to have the opportunity to put
that video together. It felt good. And I was able to help. If
anything, having that opportunity to DO something for the family
helped me to feel better. I'm grateful God helped me to know to film
the balloon release and put together the video. He doesn't do random.

To share the more upbeat side of things real quick, we had a nice
week. It was kind of slow, but a lot of that is because everyone in
the mission is kind of in mourning. However, some good things
happened! There was one night at the Rodriguez's when we went over
that no one was home except Meg. This was momentous, so I had to take
a picture with just her and I. She was so excited that the house was
so quiet! It was funny.

 Also, we left sticky notes on a door for an investigator who was
having a rough week, and she made the little picture I drew of her
family her cover photo! I feel like I should have taken more time to
do a better picture!

We had dinner with a Laous member in our ward this week (the one who
introduced me to Rambutans) and we got to play the Khene! The Laous
national instrument! It was fun. Those things are weird.

Today we went on a hike for the 3rd week in a row because I LOVE
WASHINGTON!!! This time we went with Sister Combs (who we live with)
to Round Lake, which is a smaller lake off of Lacamas Lake. It was
gorgeous! There are some cool little pools that I am definitely going
to come back and swim in when I have the chance! What a lovely hike!

I hope that you know how much I cherish my mission, just like Sister
Lierley did. She died doing what she absolutely knew was right. She
wasn't sent home, she was simply "transferred" to a new area. She is
doing missionary work up there on the other side for sure! I can't
wait to talk to her and to be able to see what Heavenly Father needed
her home for right now. It will be amazing. I know this is where I am
supposed to be. I know that the things that are happening out here are
crucial to the plan He has for me, and I wouldn't have it any other
way. I'm grateful for Sister Lierley and the example she has set for
me. I can know that in the darkest of times out here, it is for a
greater purpose that I might not be able to comprehend, and I am
grateful for the ability to recognize that things are as they should
be. I love my Heavenly Father, and I know He is taking good care of
His missionaries both here on Earth, and up there at home in His
presence. I wouldn't trade this work and this time for anything. Do
everything you can to help the Lord's work to continue! I know I will!

Love,

Sister Nicole Guilott

Miracle Central!

I have to apologize again for taking so long to send you this email. Sister Rasmussen and I went on a hike with Talu, Alaina and Paaga. It was so fun! Pictures will be placed randomly in between stories. :P So many amazing things happened this week, I'm so excited to share them all! We will go in chronological order of events.

 

So we were having a lesson with our new investigator Lisa, and it was going really well!  She is nice, and she knows a lot about the gospel already, without being able to connect that it is the gospel of Jesus Christ, so it's nice to teach her because she agrees with everything we are teaching and has educated feedback. She's pretty awesome. As we were getting ready to get up and leave, she told us that if she were to consider herself a part of any religion, she would say she's Mormon. ...Say what? We were stoked! She told us that her friend growing up was Mormon and she used to go to church with her all the time. She liked it and wants to understand it better! Woo Hoo! All we need to do is put her on date and she will be set! It was a pretty awesome miracle.

 

Another day, we had a lesson planned with the investigator who lives in the boonies and has a bunch of schnauzer dogs named Theone and we wanted to ask Jaynie (a member that lives out in the boonies) to come with us, but we TOTALLY forgot to ask her to come. When we pulled up to Theone's house, Jaynie was sitting on the front porch chatting with
Theone. Heavenly Father was picking up our slack! Haha! He's got our backs! We had a beautiful lesson where both Jaynie and Theone cried and I got a little teary eyed as Jaynie bore her testimony and told us that Theone will really study out the things we teach her and gain a firm testimony for herself. It was cool! What sweet people.

 

Teaching Keith is always a wonder because we never know if he is going to be drunk or high or whatever. We never know if he is retaining any of the information that we are telling him, but this week it was clear. We brought a member with us to his house to help us teach, and he sat down on the back porch with us and listened intently, giving good feedback and asking intelligent questions the whole time. He didn't smoke once, and he was very polite. Everything we taught, he got! It was a big miracle!

 

Two more miracles to go, hang in there! We tried to contact our potential investigator who lives at the supposed "drug house," but as we were walking up the driveway, someone in a truck parked outside the house called out to us and told us that she wasn't there. She asked if she could use our phone, so we let her. She had scabs and blisters and cuts all over her arms, chest, neck, and face, and some of them were still bleeding. She was probably in her early 30's or late 20's, but she looked closer to 50. Drugs are bad, people! Particularly meth. Don't do drugs. After she tried to call her boyfriend a zillion times on our phone without any luck, we sat and talked to her for about thirty minutes. She told us a lot about herself, and claimed to be Atheist, but we knew better. She ended up telling us she believes in Christ and God, but she thinks we should rely on ourselves rather than God. We said she was exactly right about that, but explained that God is there to help us. He's not going to simply lift us up with His hand and move us around, we have our agency, and it is still up to us to
act. Her name was Jessica, and we will be seeing her again. :)

And lastly, we went back to talk to Keith again one day, but he kind of ran away from us and hid in the house. His friend Gabrielle stayed outside and talked to us for the first time! She admitted that she has kind of been running from us, but she explained why in full detail. She opened her heart to us, and told us more than she has told anyone else in the past year and a half since all the craziness started. She loves God and had a beautiful relationship with Him, but since her
husband was out in prison and things spiraled from there, she has been very bitter. She told us that she remembers where her heart used to be, and she would eventually like to get back to that point. The fact that she even talked to us at all was a miracle, let alone that she told us exactly how she was feeling. She is a good woman, and she will be blessed because of her faith. We just need to keep it going!

 

Some other interesting things that happened this week include - meeting a man named Vladimir and discussing "Christian Beliefs" in general, singing at a baptism for a sweet little girl in the ward who's dad and majority of her extended family are nonmembers, having 6 people at church, and being asked out over text by a potential investigator. :P Those are all things that have wonderful stories behind them, but because I hiked again today, I am unfortunately out of time. I am so grateful for the many miracles that happen on a daily basis, and for the chance I have to be a part of them. Heavenly Father is one amazing miracle worker, and I love Him for showing me that hard work and persistence pay off! I love you! Keep holding to the rod!

Love,

Sister Nicole Guilott

 

Waking Up!

This week was amazing. Like, supercalifradgilisticexpialidocious amazing. It was really just THAT wonderful! Sorry it took so long to email you today, we went on a hike to Angel's Rest. It was beautiful!
We stopped at Multnoma Falls to take pictures first, then we went to Angel's Rest. It was quite the hike! But don't worry, I made it. This was the first time that we actually did something super fun all together as a zone. Elder Tiko ( from Fiji) had been there before, so he kinda led the way. Once we got to the top we sat on a bunch of rocks over looking the Columbia River and listened to some music. Brandon Heath to be exact. It was really nice! The weather was perfect, and although we all looked gross, we had a great time!

Me and Sister Rasmussen at Multnoma Falls

Our Awesome Zone

Elder Tiko likes to photo bomb everyone's pictures.

Angel's Rest with the Columbia River below

This glorious week began on Tuesday with exchanges. Exchanges are certainly not something I look forward to, but I really really enjoyed this one. We had dinner with a member who happens to be related to Cayden Morton. It is always fun to meet people out here who know the same people I know from back home. :) Exchanges were a tad different this time in that we exchanged at 10:30 in the morning and changed back the next day after studies instead of exchanging at night. It was interesting, but I kinda liked it. That night, I was sleeping in a rock hard bed so I didn't sleep a wink, but instead had all night long to ponder things. I'll come back to that.

On Thursday, we had zone conference. This is only the second one I've been to, but it was just as good as the first. I learned a lot about the kind of missionary I should be, and the way to get there! We learned this really awesome and incredibly simple way to teach the Restoration. I already know that the power if the Priesthood and the proper authority from God is necessary and super important in fulfilling the ordinances that God wants us to perform here on earth, but how to teach that to somebody else in a way that they will
understand that importance? Here's a thought: Why did Christ seek out John the Baptist when He was going to be baptized? Without going into the complicated lineage of John the Baptist, just ask yourself: Don't you think Christ would KNOW the correct way to be baptized? Wouldn't He KNOW who held the proper authority and who was able to perform that sacred ordinance? Oh I love that! We learned so many wonderful things at zone conference! Also, the night before, the AP's texted and asked if I would do a musical number. So I did. Except I made Sister Rasmussen do it with me. :) So we sang "Nearer My God to Thee" with the Ukelele accompanying us. It was nice.

After Zone Conference (which went from like 9 am to 4 pm) we went home and ate dinner. Then we met up with our ward mission leader and missionaries and ward mission leaders from other wards to go on a "Stake Ministry" split. We went with President Gillespie who is in the stake presidency. We visited Keith and Gabrielle, Chris Archer, and Frank. It is SO much easier to talk to people when we have members with us. They let us in 50% more often than they do when it is just us. So again, I beg you: GO OUT WITH THE MISSIONARIES!!! We need you!

Friday night, we took Eva and her two sons on a church tour, which was STELLAR. She asked questions about everything, which is what we want, and at the end of the tour, Sister Rasmussen and I sang "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" while I improvised on the piano. After that we watched the Because of Him video, and the spirit was SO STRONG!!! We didn't want to take away from the spirit so we ended there. It was
great! She said she would come to church in her own time, but that she is very grateful that we showed her around. I love church tours!

Saturday was a day of service. We started the day by going to a high school and helping out with a 5K race and an elementary school run. It was fun! Then we got home, got ready, and did yard work for an investigator named Sharon. :) She made us some yummy mini banana muffins with some sort of walnut from "back east." They were delicious. I learned this week that I LOVE being outside, especially when I am helping someone with something! The baked goods help too. Haha! But really, after hiking just now, and being outside all day Saturday, I realized that I really truly adore being outside. It's just so beautiful everywhere! Particularly here in Washington and Oregon. It's green everywhere, and there is no nasty inversion. I love nature!!!

Yesterday, we had a Relief Society lesson focusing on gratitude. It really magnified the things I had been thinking about all week, and it helped to pump me up even more when it comes to serving a mission! The
past few weeks have been rough, but ever since Tuesday night, I have realized that there is nowhere to go but up! In the first chapter of Preach My Gospel, it says that, "You show your love for the Lord and
gratitude for His Atonement by bringing souls unto Him." That's one of the main reasons I am out here! I am so grateful for the comfort, guidance, peace, love friendships, and grace that the fullness of Christ's Gospel has brought me, and one way to show my gratitude is to find those who don't have it yet, and share it with them. Heavenly Father wants to know and love ALL his children, but He also wants us to learn and grow. He could do all this missionary work in the snap of a finger if He wanted to, but He gives us opportunities such as serving a mission, so that we can grow in our own testimonies, and come closer and closer to Him every day. I am so grateful for my loving Heavenly Father and the opportunities He gives me to build myself up through Him.

That brings me back to Tuesday night. It had nothing to do with exchanges, and nothing to do with circumstance, but as I was praying while I sat there awake, everything finally came together. It was so many simple things that I already knew, and that others had told me many times, but I finally got it. Kind of like a testimony. People can talk at you and teach you all the live long day, but until you get on your knees and ask for a personal witness through the Holy Ghost, you will never know for yourself. I suddenly knew EXACTLY what Heavenly Father wanted me, no, needed me to do in order to become the absolute BEST missionary that I can be. I knew every step, every feeling, every action that I needed to take in order to become that missionary, and overall, that person that I have dreamed of becoming for my entire life. It was laid out in front of me, just like an instruction manual for good old OCD Sister Guilott. I got up Wednesday morning with a new look on my mission, on life, and a new attitude about pretty much everything! Since then, my companion and I haven't struggled nearly as much, I have slept like a baby every night, and I can feel my
relationship with Christ strengthening by the minute. The more I follow the promptings of the spirit, and the revelation that I had on Tuesday night, the happier I am, and the closer I am to becoming that ideal Nicole Guilott permanently. I love this work. I can't say that enough. If I hadn't come on a mission, I never would have seen the path made so crystal clear, and who knows who I would be? That doesn't matter now. All that matters is that I continue to do what Heavenly Father has planned for me, and that I continue to be grateful for all that He does for me. I love you all, and I can't wait to talk to you again next week!

Love Always,

Sister Nicole Guilott

EXCITEMENT!

Oh my goodness gracious! So many things happened this week that are fabulous! I just... Don't even know where to start! Ooooo I know: Mother's Day. Best day of the week! I got to talk to my wonderful family for a whole hour and make my Daddy laugh his crazy laugh! Boy have I missed hearing that. I am so grateful for my family and the wonderful support they are to me. I don't know where I'd be if I didn't have them!

It was great to be able to see my whole fam bam for Mother's Day, but it IS called MOTHER's day. My mom is the absolute greatest, and no one will ever be able to convince me otherwise. I adore her. She has been there for me when I have asked for her help, and she has stayed by my side when I have been too stupid to realize that I needed her. I love my mom so much, and even though I know I will never be able to repay her for the things she has done and continues to do for me, I can love her continually. :) I am so grateful that Heavenly Father sent me to her and made me a part of my family for eternity. I would truly be
lost without them. Thank you Mom for being my best friend! Happy Mother's Day!

This week was truly a great one. Some exciting things happened! We had an appointment set up with our Russian investigator Serg, who only speaks a little bit if English, but not enough to understand church or a lesson, but our translator cancelled on us! We were devastated! But we are diligent missionaries, and we were NOT going to cancel on Serg! So we used the tools this mission provides us, and Facebook messaged
some people until we found a handful of translators willing to FaceTime or Skype us to help translate for a lesson. My dearest Jared Naumann ended up FaceTiming us and translating! It was awesome! We finally understood where Serg was coming from, and he better understood our purpose. It was great! (Side note: when we met him at the church to have a lesson, he pulled out some Katy Perry perfume and sprayed us both with it... Not quite sure what to think of that...) We had a great lesson with him, and we will definitely be utilizing FaceTime and Skype to continue to teach him. :)

A little too excited to have a translator for Serg...

Did you know I love food? Well I do. And this week was an interesting food week! One particular day, we ate mostly fruit. We had rambutan's, mangos's, watermelon, pineapple, and some other stuff I can't remember. It was a nice colorful assortment! Another day, we had dinner with a member couple who own the evil dog named Scooby. I think I've talked about them before... Anyway, they made us some chicken and other stuff, but I was NOT a fan. So... I fed it to the dog! They were like, aw he finally likes you! Well I had to make sure it stayed that way, so I kept feeding him. It was funny. Sort of a had to be there thing now that I'm writing it out... Oh well! Last night we went to Meena's house, the sweet Indian woman who likes Bollywood, and she fed us some authentic Indian food! It was delicious! We had... Let's see if I can remember what it's called... Rotis (row-tee-ss) and Dahl (doll). I think that's it. It was super yummy!!! Meena and her sons spoke Punjabi to each other a lot and I just sat there wishing I could communicate with them! But all I knew was things like, "Om Shanti Om," "Kal Ho Na Ho," "Main Hoo Na," and "It's the Time to Disco." And that's more Hindi than Punjabi, so basically it was worthless. Oh well! I could eat their food and listen to them talk all day!

Part of our healthy fruit day. :)

I feel like I'm starting to recognize more and more Coraline-esque things around here... First they put me in a mansion similar to the "Pink Palace" in the middle of the woods, then the investigator with a thousand Scottie Dogs, then I find a secret and smallish Coraline door, and now there are banana slugs roaming around. What next??

I was trying to be like Wybie and put it on my upper lip.  It was too gross, so I couldn't.

Crazy huh? That was just a thought I had this week. ANYWAY, we had some super cool moments with investigators this week. Unfortunately, Tony was not baptized because he ended up in Portland for some reason. We will keep working with him! We had a few really amazing lessons with a man named Keith. He is about 6 feet tall, has tattoos all over his body, always wears a wife beater, has a ponytail that reaches below his waist, and he has no more teeth because of past drug abuse. He is a very sweet man, and we love teaching him! He has made comments about how grateful he is that we don't judge him by his appearance,
and that we are willing to teach him and bring him closer to Christ. It's very sweet. :) We got another new investigator named Lisa who is rooming with a referral that we tried to contact, but got her instead. She is super kind too! All the people here in Vancouver are just so darn wonderful! I'm so excited to be able to teach them all!

Lastly, we had dinner on Friday with a member and her extremely less active son, Troy. I kept feeling like I needed to say something to him, but couldn't figure out how to approach it... So I just spat it out. I said, "Troy, why haven't I ever seen you at church?" to which he responded, "Oh, because I'm not active in the church." I said, "Why?" right upfront, and apparently that was the right decision because from there, we had a wonderful conversation for about an hour about his beliefs and how they differ from the church. He talked about science and about his belief in medical marijuana, etc etc. I told him that I am a science major and that we spent a lot of time studying theories such as the Big Bang and evolution and I addressed every single one of his scientific concerns. Not in a preachy "But God created that" sort of way, but more on his level of understanding. I told him that I found the balance between the two by making them a part of each other instead of trying to force one to be right and one to be wrong. It came out of my mouth a lot better than it is sounding on here, but the point is that it made perfect sense, and for the first time in about 15 years, Troy allowed himself to ponder it instead of standing by his pre-formulated opinion. It was funny because his mom knew she had never gotten that far with him before, so for the whole hour we were talking, everyone was silent for fear of ruining the progression he was making. I invited him to come sit by me in church and talk to me about what he was feeling and thinking throughout sacrament meeting, and we could discuss how to combine the truth with the evidence, and he said he would definitely consider that. We now have a weekly Friday night appointment with them. :) I think that was my favorite part of this week (besides Mother's Day of course!).

I am so grateful for this area, Lacamas Creek, for the people here and for the wonderful places that Heavenly Father is taking me. If you are ever doubting Him and what He has in store for you, or doubting your faith, or anything of the like PLEASE get down on your knees and pray to Him. He will ALWAYS answer. I am past believing in Him and in this Gospel. I am past believing that I can return to Him and be
resurrected to be with Him and my family forever. I am past believing. I KNOW that this is true, and I KNOW that if I ever have questions or am in need of comfort, my Heavenly Father is there for me. I am so
grateful for the relationship I have with Him, and I know He sent me here because He knows me perfectly. I hope you all will take the time to establish that relationship with Him for yourselves. Have a wonderful week! Talk to you next time!

Love,

Sister Nicole Guilott

P.S. Elizabeth changed her mind again. :'( But we will not lose hope! Ever!

Coping with having to hang up on our families by eating ice cream under fuzzy blankets!

My tribute to Sister Major for today.

Too Little Time!

I apologize. This letter will be a bit on the shorter side, and to make it worse, I didn't take a single picture this week. Well besides the ones on here... So I guess I took a few. I will do better next week! There is just not enough time on Pdays! Not enough time in 18 months to do all that we need to do! Not enough time to plan, to think, to sleep! Haha time needs to SLOW DOWN. Or pause for a second. That would be nice too.

This was a weird 7 days. On Monday and Tuesday, Sister Major and I spent most of our time visiting as many people as we could so that she could say goodbye. It was busy! But also nice to see everyone all in
one little space of time. Wednesday was transfers! Disastrous. This is how we felt about it on the way there:

We saw everyone at transfers, I met my new companion Sister Rasmussen, said goodbye to Sister Major and we left. It was weird because I was driving all of a sudden and I loved it! Haha we got home alright. Went shopping, got unpacked and all is well. It was strangely difficult to say goodbye to Sister Major. She is amazing, and I am so grateful that she was my trainer. I love her so much!

"Final Goodbyes... :("

Things are super different without her... Sister Rasmussen likes to do things very differently. Sister Major and I had a system going, but so did Sister Rasmussen in her last area and things were going super well up there, so I think she is just adjusting to a new area and learning how to fellowship the members all over again. This is only her second area, so she is still trying to adjust. We have struggled, but we are communicating and making things work. It is something we will have to work on the entire transfer, but there is definitely something special about this companionship that is going to emerge at some point in the next six weeks. I can't wait to see it. :)

Me and my new companion - Sister Rasmussen.

I have bad news and good news. Bad first. While we were at a lesson with Tony, he was staring at my forehead and I was ultra confused... So I stopped talking and he reached his hand up to my head, and plucked out a white hair. WHITE. I'm apparently a grandma all of a sudden. The good news, and this is WONDERFUL news, is that Elizabeth came to church yesterday! She got a blessing on Monday or Tuesday night, and since then she has decided to come back!!! :') I am so happy! I knew it would be okay! She has an interview set up for tomorrow night with the Bishop to get her temple recommend. Oh man. Life is good.

I apologize again for the lack of content in this email, but I promise I will do better next time! I love my mission, I love this Gospel, and I love YOU! Have a phenomenal week! I'm so excited to see the fam on
Sunday for Mother's Day Skyping! Haha! TTFN! Ta Ta For Now!

Love,

Sister Guilott

p.s. Happy Cinco de Mayo!