JOHNNY. HE'S. ON. THE. WALL.

Hey Everybody!!  

Well this has been a good week.

First off we had a meeting in Feira De Santana and we got to listen to Elder Jairo Mazzagardi from the Quorum of the Seventy. It was really good. I really enjoyed what he taught us. He talked to me a little and he knew a lot of cities and places in Idaho.

We were also able to get our mail and I got some things from my family, haha, and I got this fake deer head to put on the wall, it's funny!!  

Today we don't have much time. We are going to another city to have a p day with our zone, so we will be leaving here soon. 

That's about it for the week. We have some investorgators that are doing well and keep progressing, so hopefully soon we can baptise them. 

The weather here is still getting hotter, summer is arriving. 

This picture is a coconut that I got and had to cut the outside to get the coconut out. 

Well talk to you guys later. I'm grateful to be here and spread the gospel. Hope all is well with you guys. Thanks for all. 

Love, Elder Nickerson

Peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all they foes - D&C 121:7-8

ONE. OF. THEM. WAS. HOLDING. A. PISTOL.

Well this week has been good! 

This past week we ended up doing a split with our zone leaders and I ended up going to a city called Feira de Santana.  We spent the day working there. It was cool to work in another city. 

We had kind of a cool experience while I was there. We were heading to our last appointment of the day, and we were heading down this street that didn't have much activity of people.  My companion and I were talking and we heard something weird and out of the trees and bushes two guys appeared.  One of them was holding a pistol and they told us to give them our money, cell phones, everything we had....

So we started to give them our things while we talked to them and told them that, "We are missionaries of the Church" and when they saw that we were missionaries and didn't have much money, they both looked at each other, and they gave us everything back but 4 reis. 

Before they left from us we gave them cards with a picture of Jesus Christ and invited them to go to church haha. I sure am glad that Heavenly Father watches over and protects us each and every day.

This past week we were able to put 4 baptisms dates on our investigators, so I hope they keep progressing. This is a picture of a big grasshopper that we found in our house and one of our investigators and a family that are members here in Santo Amaro. Well that's about it for the week. 

Sorry don't have much more time, hope all is well with you guys.

Talk to you next week. Love Elder Nickerson

EXTRAORDINARY. ROLE. OF. CHRIST.

Well, this week flew by. The weeks always fly by now.

Today we woke up at 5:30 and rode bicycles to a waterfall here close to Santo Amaro. It was fun!!! It was great to do something different.

Today is a holiday for all the kids here in Brasil and there were a lot of people. We didn't stay very long at the waterfall.

This week has been good for us. We have a few people getting closer to baptism.   I hope they keep progressing. Not a lot has happened this week.  We have just put our heads down and went to work. 

I hope that everybody had a good week. Talk to you guys later.

Much Love,
Elder Nickerson

"The more we understand the extraordinary role of Christ in our lives, the more conscious we become of our purpose."

UM. ANO. (ONE. YEAR.)

Well everybody, this has been a good week. 

First off this week, it has been a year since I left home!! It's crazy how fast time really flies. It seems like the longer I'm out here, the faster time is going. There's a thing here, that when you make it a year, you burn a shirt!! Ha so I ended up burning a shirt.  It wasn't my shirt but another elders shirt that was already ruined. He let me burn it.   

I hope that everybody was able to watch general conference this weekend. I learned a lot and felt the spirit really strong as they spoke. There were many good talks that I enjoyed. I was also able to watch it in English, so I was happy for that. 

The new Elder that arrived with us in our house is from Peru!  So now in our house we have one Brazilian, one American, one from Argentina and one From Perú. 

The weather is changing here again and now it's going back into summer and is very hot all day long, and hasn't rained for awhile. 

We have a few investigators excited about the church, so we will keep working with them and hopefully soon they will be baptized.  

The church here has also started a new program where every week they are making soup and giving it to the poor or needy. This past week we were able to go with them and help give it away. It was really neat to see how grateful the people were to receive the soup. 

I sure am grateful for the gospel in my life and to have a Prophet and apostles living to guide us on this earth. Well that's about it for the week. I hope that everybody had a good week and that we can use and do what we learned over general conference. Thanks for everything.

Com Amor, 

Èlder Nickerson

MARCOS. WAS. BAPTIZED.

Hey everybody!!


Well . . . . we found out Saturday that my companion and I will be staying here for one more transfer. I have been here 6 months and next transfer I will have been here for 7 and a half months. The time that I have been here has passed really fast.   Feels like I have only been here 2 transfers.    

This past week we also had a meeting with our president and our zone in Feira De Santana. It was a really good meeting. I can't believe it has already been a year since I left my house. Feels like I just left yesterday. Time just keeps passing faster and faster, and I am loving every minute of my mission.   

This week has been really good for us. We were able to get Marcos baptised and confirmed.  Also, he received the Priesthood on Sunday!! It was cool to get it all done for him. Haha, everybody here in the church is already talking about a mission to him.  That would be cool if he went on his mission. 

Well, that's about it for the week. Hope you guys are all doing well. Talk to you guys later. 

Com Amor, 

Èlder Nickerson

PESSOAS. PREPARADOS.

Hey Everybody! 

This week has been good and really fast. 

The weather here in Brasil is starting to change and is going into summer. So the rain is stopping and the heat is starting back up. It seems like I never stop sweating, so that gets pretty annoying. 

This week we were able to put baptism dates on 2 more guys and they are excited about the church. This week we were also able to help with service. All the houses here are made with brick and cement, so we were able to help a member on the inside of his house a little. 

We also made pancakes with our Branch President and ate them with peanut butter my mom sent me. It was good to taste some American food. This is the last week in this transfer and I have been here in Santo Amaro for 6 months.  There are good chances I will leave this area but who knows. 

Well, that's about it for the week. Thanks for all the love and support. I hope all is well with you guys. Talk to you guys later.

Much Love, 
Elder Nickerson

Great things are brought about and burdens are lightened through the efforts of many hands “anxiously engaged in a good cause.”

PEOPLE. PREPARED. TO. RECEIVE. THE. GOSPEL.

Hey!!

I hope you all had a good week!!

Well, this week has been really good. Today we are in another city about an hour from Santo Amaro.  We are visiting my companion's old area. This week went really fast for me. We were able to find and teach a lot of our investigators this week. We are teaching this guy named Marcos.

And he was already prepared to hear the gospel before we even started teaching him. We have been praying to put people in our path that are prepared to receive the gospel. And I am seeing a difference in our work. We are finding a lot of people that are prepared and needing the gospel in their lives.

I sure am grateful for prayer and I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers. I hope you all are doing well. Talk to you guys later.

Love,

Elder Nickerson

 

 

Harold B Lee said this,

 

“If you want the blessing, don't just kneel down and pray about it. Prepare yourselves in every conceivable way you can in order to make yourselves worthy to receive the blessing you seek. Brigham Young illustrated this when he said: 'You may go to some people here, and ask what ails them, and they answer, 'I don't know but we feel a dreadful distress in the stomach and in the back; we feel all out of order, and we wish you to lay hands on us.' He said to these people, 'Have you used any remedies?' meaning herbs or whatever the pioneers had. 'No,' they said, 'we wish the Elders to lay hands upon us, and we have faith that we shall be healed.' President Young said: 'That is very inconsistent according to my faith. If we are sick, and ask the Lord to heal us, and to do all for us that is necessary to be done, according to my understanding of the Gospel of salvation, I might as well ask the Lord to cause my wheat and corn to grow without my plowing the ground and casting in the seed. It appears consistent to me to apply every remedy that comes within the range of my knowledge, and then ask my Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus Christ, to sanctify that application to the healing of my body...But supposing we were traveling in the mountains, and all we had or could get, in the shape of nourishment, was a little venison, and one or two were taken sick, without anything in the world in the shape of healing medicine within our reach, what should we do? According to my faith, ask the Lord Almighty to send an angel to heal the sick. This is our privilege...' (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 163) When we are situated that we cannot get anything to help ourselves, then we may call upon the Lord and His servants who can do all. But it is our duty to do what we can within our own power.”