IT. WILL. ALL. WORK. OUT.

Sorry, I didn't write much last week! I didn't have much time. We had to wake up and catch a bus to another city.  

These past two weeks have been good. Today is the last day in this transfer here and I found out I will be staying here in Santo Amaro, and my companion will be leaving. 

There are 21 missionaries leaving this mission and only 12 new missionaries arriving. So they ended up closing an area here close to mine. Now we will only have 4 missionaries in our house, and I think my companion and I will work in both areas after this transfer.  

We have a lot of investigators right now we are working with.  But when it comes to Sunday and going to church, they don't want to go. But I know if we keep trying, it will all work out. 

I am excited to be able to share the gospel with the people of Santo Amaro one more transfer. Sunday we had a special sacrament meeting. People from the stake came and spoke.  They talked about missionary work. 

I got to make cookies this week.  There were peanut butter and so good!

It sure does make me glad and grateful to be where I'm at and to be able to serve our Savior. Thanks for all the love and support. Hope all is well with you guys. Talk to you guys later.

With Love, 

Èlder Nickerson

BE. OF. GOOD. CHEER.

Hey!!

Today we are having pday in another city called Feira de Santana.  We left about five this morning and took a bus to get here.  So we are using computers in a different place this time.  All the elders in our zone are getting together today to play some games and do some activities.  It is always nice to do something a little different.  

Next week are transfers. We will find out on Saturday who is leaving and the transfer will happen on Tuesday.   It always makes you excited and nervous at the same time.  We know that change is good, but we are all anxious until it is over.

This week we had zone conference.  It is always nice to see all the elders there, and to know that you are one of the many out there bringing the gospel to the people.  There is definitely strength in numbers.  I love the messages that we hear at zone conference.

Our baptisms fell through this week but we have scheduled them again for Saturday.  We always keep our fingers crossed, but all we can do is try.

I sure love you guys and hope that all is well.  Things are going great here.  The weeks always seem to fly by.

Elder Bradley Foster said, "I testify that the Savior will abide with you in your darkest hour.  He is there, and He has declared, "In the world ye shall have tribulation:  But be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.""

Much love,
Elder Nickerson

BEST. REWARD. OF. BEING. A. MISSIONARY.

Well, this week has been good and bad for us. 

First off, my companion got sick for 3 days and he wasn't able to leave the house. But since there are six of us in our house now, we were able to do splits every day and take turns staying home with him.  That way we were able to get out and visit our investigators. 

This week we have been blessed to be able to find a lot of new people to teach!!!  Finding people to accept the gospel is the best reward of being a missionary.   We were able to find and put baptism dates on six new people this week. And they all accepted the day, so I sure hope and pray they will follow through.

Yesterday we were at church and a young man showed up that has visited the church for awhile now.  He wanted to get baptised, but his mom and dad wouldn't let him. However, yesterday he told us his dad will let him, so we are excited to get to baptise him and am hoping it will all work out. 

The older people we have been teaching, the same guy with that bad drinking problem; his wife, yesterday when we went to their house, he was the only one there. You could see something was wrong and he told us that the lady he is living with was in the hospital because she almost couldn't breath anymore. But I called her last night and she is doing better and will maybe be released today. We are sure praying for all the people in our area this week.  

I know that through prayer and fasting Heavenly Father hears and helps us. I know through prayer we can talk to our Heavenly Father and he will help us with anything we need help with. 

I hope all you guys are doing well. Thanks for all the support. 

Gordon B Hinckley said, "Don't be gloomy.  Do not dwell on unkind things.  Stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight.  Even if you are not happy, put a smile on your face.  Accentuate the positive.  Look a little deeper for the good.  Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, with great and strong purpose in your heart.  Love life.  

Talk to you guys later.

Much love, 
Elder Nickerson

CAPOEIRA.

Hey!

I hope everybody had a good week! This week was really good for me! 

First off, we practiced a lot in the choir and sang in church on Sunday. 

I did a split with another Elder here in our house and we got to go to another city. The picture of me with the wooden thing is called a beating ball. It's an instrument they play here when they do a dance called Capoeira. Ha, it's really cool to watch.  There is a story behind Capoeira.  

When the people were in slavery in Brazil, they invented this dance to train to fight the people that were keeping them in slavery. They learned the training as a dance to keep it hidden that they were really training to prepare to fight the people. And now the people here still train and practice, but it is only a dance. It's really cool to watch.

 They were celebrating a holiday or something, and a bunch of people were running up and down the streets!! Haha, I have to admit it was kinda creepy at first to see these people running all over the place.

We started this new program in the church with the missionaries, and have been working hard to have family home evenings with the less active. This week we had family home evenings a couple nights and we were able to get the entire family of the less actives to come to church Sunday. Also, the guy I talked about that has a bad drinking problem, has stopped drinking, and now him and the lady he lives with are starting to talk to each other again. When we go to their house now you can see happiness in their faces and in the way they act.  They are much happier and are progressing!! So, I'm excited about that.

I'm grateful for prayer and I know that through prayer we can talk to our Heavenly Father and he will help us with all we need. 

Well, that's about it for the week. Thanks for all your love and support. Talk to you guys next week. 

Love, 

Èlder Nickerson

LOVE. THE. VERY. ESSENCE. OF. THE. GOSPEL.

Hey Everybody!!!

This has been a good week here in Santo Amaro. 

The rock was so soft, I carved my name with another rock!

First off, today we went to this waterfall close to this city. Haha, we didn't know we had to walk upstream and half of us wore shoes and before we knew it, our shoes were soaked. So we all went barefoot. Ha, it was a cool spot to visit. A lot of people were slipping and falling in the water. Haha.

This week we were able to find some new investigators. Right now, we are teaching an older couple! This past week we went to their house, and he was so drunk he could barely stand up. When he starts drinking, he doesn't stop until he gets so sick, he can't drink anymore.  These past couple weeks he drank for 10 days without stopping. We have been trying hard to help him stop. The doctor already told him if he doesn't stop soon, he will die. He told us he has drank ever since he was 16 years old. We found out that his dad died the same way. He drank so much he ended up dying in front of a market.  It is a hard thing.  We have been trying really hard to help him, so that won't happen to him also.  Everyone please keep him in your prayers.  I really enjoying helping them out. He has stopped drinking now for a little bit, so hopefully we can keep him away from the alcohol. 

But that's about it for the week. I'm grateful to be where I'm at right now, and to be a missionary for our Heavenly Father. I'm excited to get to know our new investigators and get them to church. 

Thomas S Monson said, We cannot truly love God if we do not love our fellow travelers on this mortal journey.  Likewise, we cannot fully love our fellowmen if we do not love God, the Father of us all.  The Apostle John tells us, "This commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also."  We are all spirit children of our Heavenly Father and, as such, are brothers and sisters.  As we keep this truth in mind, loving all of God's children will become easier. 

Actually, love is the very essence of the gospel and Jesus Christ is our Exemplar.  His life was a legacy of love.  The sick He healed; the downtrodden He lifted; the sinner He saved.  At the end the angry mob took His life.  And yet there rings from Golgotha's hill the words: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" - a crowning expression in mortality of compassion and love.  

Thanks for everything. I hope you all have a good week. 

Talk to you guys later. 

Love, 
Elder Nickerson

SERVICE. MEANS. JOY.

Hi!!

I hope everyone had a good week.  This week flew by for us. It seems like I say that every week now.  :)   We are loving our new apartment compared to our last one.  However, our washer did break and we had to haul it to a repair shop in a wheel barrow.  It was pretty funny the looks we got while we pushed our washer to the shop.   We still need to get the hot water fixed in our other bathroom though. I have been having some pains in my foot this week.  When I looked at my foot to see if I could notice anything different, I found a few huge lumps.  I don't know what they are, but there are times that they sure hurt.   I hope whatever it is, it goes away soon. But don't worry about me, I will be fine.

This week was a week of service.  We helped a lot of people in our area.  It always makes me feel happy after we are able to help people and get things accomplished. Sometimes I feel like we better show our testimony and the gospel through our actions. We also helped put a roof on a house.

The president told us this week that we need to make sure we never slack and we show love and respect for each other.  That was a good thing for us to hear because it can be easy to get discouraged when we struggle to find people that want to come to church.  Not every day out here is easy.  It takes a lot of trust and faith in the Lord to keep putting one foot in front of the other and to maintain a positive attitude.  I am grateful for the opportunity I have to serve here in Brazil and get to know the people.  I am also grateful for all the times I know the Lord is here helping me through the tough times and softening the hearts of the people we are teaching. 

I hope you all know that I truly feel your love and support from home.  I sure hope that you all have a great week.

Here is a picture of a spider I found. 

“To find real happiness, we must seek for it in a focus outside ourselves,” President Thomas S. Monson teaches. “No one has learned the meaning of living until he has surrendered his ego to the service of his fellow man. Service to others is akin to duty, the fulfillment of which brings true joy.” As we look heavenward, President Monson says we will inevitably learn of our responsibility to reach outward.

I love you all very much.   Talk to you soon.

Elder Nickerson

HERE. FISHY. FISHY.

Hey everybody, this week has been a  really good week!!

First off, we found out that I will be staying here in Santo Amaro and so will my companion. That means I will have been with the same companion for 3 transfers now. 

This week a lot has happened!  We were able to find a new house and we moved into our house on Saturday! It was pretty exciting.  But also that same night we didn't have any water, but they got it turned on yesterday.  We also have someone coming today to take some wood out of our ceiling because there are bats living in there.  And we are cleaning out our old house today.  The new house is a lot better than our last house by far! The ceiling doesn't leak water and our house isn't filled with mold. And we actually have hot showers again. We also were able to take our appliances with us to our new home.  Because this house is much bigger, we will have those two other companions move in this week.

This week here in Brasil they celebrate the 2nd like we do the 4th. It was cool here, the streets were filled with marching bands and a bunch of people dressed up. 

Haha!! And this week we were walking down the streets and there were people fishing, so we asked if we could try really fast.  And I caught a fish!!  It was awesome.  Haha!! I'm not sure what kind of fish, but it was cool.

Right now we are teaching this older couple. I met them on my first day here. The lady's name is Crueza, she wants to be baptised really bad, but can't because they aren't married yet. The guy she is living with has a problem with the word of wisdom. And he won't do anything with the marriage papers. And Crueza doesn't have another place to go. I really want to help them join the church and really enjoy helping them. Every time we go to her house you can see how excited she is when she sees us at her gate. She looks forward all day to our visits.

It sure does make me grateful for the opportunity I have to be here and find and help people that are needing help here. I am grateful for the opportunity I have to be in Brasil and the be a Missionary for our Savior. It's crazy to think I have almost been out a year. Feels just like yesterday that I left the U.S. 

"We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude,"  President Monson said.  "My sincere prayer is that we may, in our individual lives, reflect that marvelous virtue:  an attitude of gratitude."

Well, that's about it for the week. I hope that all you guys have a good week. Thanks for all the support and prayers. 

Talk to you guys later.

Love, Èlder Nickerson