May 27, 2013--Week 65

Hello :)

This has been another wonderful week.  We had our baptism Friday.  It was an awesome experience.  I had the opportunity to perform the ordinance, and it was just an awesome service with a lot of support from the branch, especially the youth and their leaders.  The girl who was baptized is a friend of all of the young women here in the branch and she started going to seminary every day, so they introduced us to her.  And then we taught her.  And then she wanted to get baptized :) and then this week, she got baptized.  

Also, we´re for sure going to have another baptism at the end of next week.  We´ve had more investigators in church the last couple of weeks as well, which is awesome.  We´re super excited.  We´re going to have lots and lots of baptisms in these next couple months.  Up until this point in my mission, I haven´t been in an area for more than 4 months.  We don´t have changes for another few weeks, but I really hope that I have the chance to be here a while with Elder Reyes.  I´m learning a lot from him and we work really well together.  

Umm… Other than that, there´s not too much new :) I´m sorry that´s what I always say.  I feel like I´ve gotten progressively worse at writing home since the beginning of my mission.  

Oh yeah one thing I was going to tell you is that the members we live with had some really dirty and dusty exercise machines that nobody had used for a while, and we finally cleaned them off and decided that we were going to use them.  So I´ve now been running on a treadmill (although I hate treadmills and this is a horrible treadmill).  And I realized that I´m in horrible shape.  So, that´ll do me some good :) 

Have a great week!  You are the best!

Con mucho amor,

Elder Andrew Nickerl

We did have a baptism this week.  Here's the photo...and I look like a giant as usual.  :)

May 20, 2013--Week 64

Hello everyone!

What an INCREDIBLE week this was :) I´m so happy.  We didn´t actually end up having our baptism, but it got cancelled for a valid reason on the investigator’s part and we´re going to have it this week.  So, this week we taught a ton of lessons and we´ve been working a lot with the members and we´ve basically just been all over the place.  We´re going to have another baptism the 8th of June, and we´re hoping to put a couple more baptismal dates on the calendar in the next couple of days.  We´re super psyched, because the entire zone is baptizing!  There are a couple of areas that haven´t baptized in a LONG time, and each one of those areas is going to baptize in this week or the next one.  So, we´re pretty content.  Other than that, we have zone conference tomorrow in Arriaga with the Arriaga zone.  That´s always an awesome experience.  President always tells us a ton of stories from his mission :) he served here in the same mission, and here in the Oaxaca zone too (but he was in an area that´s now part of the Oaxaca mission). But yeah, he baptized like 300 people on his mission or something ridiculous like that, so he´s got a lot of awesome stories to tell us :) ummmm... other than that... I got the news today that they found my camera charger in Comitán (sorry that you had already ordered a new one)!  I´ll get it in a couple of weeks--the next time we go to Tuxtla.  

I´m very happy :) I´m so grateful for the chance that I have to be part of this great work. I've started contemplating a lot lately how blessed I have been to grow up with the Gospel and experience it´s blessings my entire life.  I know that God loves us.  I feel it each day; both His love for me and His love for His children here whom I serve.  I know He wants to bless each one of them in the same capacity that I´ve been blessed as I´ve experienced the blessings of the Gospel.  That has become one of the greatest motivators for me as I work.  I want you to know that I have come to love the Lord, His Gospel, and His Church much more than I could have understood before.  

That´s about all that I have to say for today. :) Sorry, I feel like I don´t send all that much more information in my emails anymore... Everything just blends together for me.  If there's ever anything you want me to write about you can ask me!  :) I love you all very very much.  I love hearing from you, and it makes me so happy every week to see the success that you´re having in your lives.

Con mucho amor,

Elder Andrew Nickerl  

P.S.  Oh, and I thought of some more things that I would like in my package if you can get ahold of them :) and I wrote them down—so I remember. Mostly it´s music.  There are a couple of songs on youth.lds.org on a new album by the BYU men´s chorus called "Set Apart".  They´re missionary hymns.  And I really love the ones that are on there and if you can get it I would love to have the CD to listen to in the house.  Apart from that, I´ve been listening to a lot of instrumental music lately, and I was wondering if you could get me some Jon Schmidt music (if I remember right there's this one of his that I really liked called "Renaissance Hymn and it turns out that we can listen to other instrumental music so just whatever awesome music of his that you can find as long as it´s not irreverent... And, one of the youth in Comitán was telling me that he made a group with a cellist called "Los chicos del piano" (which I´m assuming is "The Piano Guys") and put some of the music on (apparently a cover of a song called "Titaneum" or something like that) and it was pretty awesome.  And, I don´t have the song "Savior, Redeemer of my Soul" from "17 Miracles" and I´ve been wanting to listen to that for a while.  So if you can find some of that music that would be great.  If not, don´t worry about it :) Also, one just randomly gets those food hankerings. And, if you could put a box of pop tarts in that would be pretty awesome.  I don´t remember about the flavors.  Just whatever looks good :) And those are the only specific things I could think of.  Thank´s so much :) You´re the best!

May 13, 2013--Week 63

Dear Family,

It was so great talking to you guys last night :) although Jacob and Anna, I´m so sorry that we had the change of plans and that I talked later and didn´t get to talk to you guys. But, I was really happy to be able to still talk with Jared, Adam, Mom, and Dad.  

So, this week we are just overwhelmed with work!  We have so many investigators!  I love it so much!  We´ve been working super super hard and it´s paying off.  It feels so good to have the support of the members.  We´re going to have a baptism this week :) and hopefully the week after.  And the week after would be nice as well but we´ll see about that :) The family I was telling you guys about last night is awesome.  The Mom hasn´t been religious her whole life but now that she´s married with three little boys I think religion is starting to become more of a subject of thought for her.  She read Alma 32 and just yesterday we taught them about exactly HOW to plant the seed that Alma talks about, and now she's going to start reading to Book of Mormon and praying to know if it´s true and about the Restoration of the Gospel.

Sorry that I have no photos to send... since I lost my camera charger again that makes it kind of tough.  I´ll send one next week of the baptism from Elder Reyes´s camera.

Hmm... that´s basically my report for the week :) Oh!  I thought of more stuff that I would like to ask for in a package.  And I forgot half of it already.  So, for next week I´m going to write it down every time I think of something.  But, when Dad sent me a package from Afghanistan, he sent me gatorade powder, and that was cool.  And also he sent me these beef sticks that aren´t like beef jerkey, they´re softer.  I think they´re called snack sticks. I don´t know if you could try to find some of those, but that would be wonderful.  And Jared´s idea sounded good...just stuff that looks like it doesn´t exist here in Mexico. Umm... I definitely had thought of more things.  But they walked out of mind while I wrote our weekly report to the assistants.  So... yeah.  Hmm.  I promise I'll write them down for next week :) 

Have a great week!  I love all of you!

Con mucho amor,

Elder Andrew Nickerl

May 6, 2013--Week 62

Hello family!

What a great week!  This has seriously been the best week that I´ve had for a very long time.  My new companion is awesome.  We get along super well and he´s the hardest worker that I´ve been with yet.  We went crazy this week and found around 10 new investigators.  And almost all of them are part member families!  That means that we´re working towards uniting families for time and all eternity... :) which is the very best.  So, the baptism that we were going to have last month but fell through we also scheduled for the 18th (and fixed the problems that made it so that we couldn't have it last time).  And another one of our investigators after a very long chain of events can now finally get married to the guy that she´s living with so that she can get baptized too!  And, out of the 10 new investigators that we found, I feel like a lot of them are going to progress.  So, in the upcoming weeks we´re going to be baptizing a lot of people :) and I am really, really psyched.  

So... umm... other than that.  It's really hot.  Really, really hot.  Like hotter than it's been my entire mission.  Fasting yesterday was ridiculously hard.  Probably the hardest fast I've ever done in my life.  When we finally ended our fast, we drank like a gallon of water each and both got really sick from drinking water too fast.  Oops.  But we still had a ton of work to do so we left anyway and found more new investigators!  And it ended up being a great day.  I just got a little bit burned this week because it's a lot dryer here in Oaxaca than in Chiapas and the sun seems to have intensified a lot starting on Wednesday.  So my tan lines also passed from ridiculous to much more ridiculous.  But I´m drinking lots of water and staying very hydrated (we go through two 19 liter garrafones each week, and I drink more water than my comp).  

I can´t think of too much more to say, but I´m happy and healthy :) I have a testimony of this work and I know it changes lives.  It´s changed mine more than I can believe.  I love the Lord and I´m so grateful for the oportunity that I have to serve Him in this capacity.  

I love you all and I´m so grateful for all the success that you´re having in your lives. Each week you all inspire me. :) Take care!

Con mucho amor,

Elder Andrew Nickerl

P.S. Oh, and we´re going to be able to Skype for no more than 40 minutes on Sunday.  I know that´s not very much time but that´s the rule. :) I´m just grateful for that time and can't wait to talk to all of you.  We´ll be getting on here about 7 pm.  I´m not sure what that time is where you guys are.  I may be a little late too because I might have to download skype on the computer I get on and because we have an appointment right beforehand.

April 29, 2013--Week 61

Hello :)

The only news today is that it's changes.  My comp is leaving just like we knew he would (to an area hotter than here, just about like Huixtla).  My new companion is named Elder Reyes, and he´s coming from Tapachula.  The thing is, there are two elders that are named Elder Reyes in Tapachula, and both are zone leaders, so it could be either of them.  I´ve met them but don´t know either of them very well.  If it´s the one I think it is, he´s actually from the city of Oaxaca.  So, he´s getting transferred to his own state.  Kind of cool.  So, this past change, I don´t think that my English really improved all that much because we spoke a lot of Spanglish and I probably couldn´t call it English.  So, my English probably stayed about neutral.  But, now it´s probably back to the downward spiral for my English.  But that´s ok :) I learn more Spanish when I´m with Mexicans.  

Mom, good prompt questions :) thank you.  Well... This week I ate "fish soup" (caldo de pescado) for the first time.  It had shrimp in it.  Like the entire shrimp.  We had to take the head off and the shell and stuff.  That part was pretty cool and pretty good and pretty messy.  There was also an entire boiled fish in there.  That part I didn´t like as much.  It was really hard to eat and I almost ate a bunch of bones and it was even more messy. They eat a ton of soup here.  They think it´s really really healthy.  It´s usually chicken soup, which is probably fairly healthy.  Other times, it´s beef soup.  Really fatty beef. Like you feel an entire coating of fat in your mouth after eating it.  So soup is kind of the bane of our existence because it´s so hot and we don´t really want to come and eat some nice piping hot soup when we're hot.  The good thing is that when you´re hungry, everything tastes good.  And, I do want to say that I have never left food on my plate in my mission. And I can almost always down seconds, even when I don´t like it.  Because I do really appreciate the sacrifice that the hermanas make to prepare us food and I don't want to offend them.  That would make me sad.  

But anyway, every Wednesday, we eat with the members that own our house.  They actually have this property with a big fence around it.  Their house is inside.  Also one of the kids of the hermano have a house and then another little house (that´s ours).  They hire a lady to keep up their house and the property full time and to do laundry and cook and stuff.  And she cooks really really good food.  So every Wednesday is like a three entre meal.  They give us a little soup or bowl of beans ("la entrada")(but a good soup, not the soup I just talked about), the then main entre ("el plato fuerte"), and then dessert ("el postre").  And it´s always really good.  Like last week, she totally made us barbeque chicken with potato wedges.  And they do NOT make food like that here.  So that was pretty sweet.  And she also puts a nice salad on there which is great because they don´t eat enough vegetables here, especially raw vegetables.  Remind me to explain Mexican "antojitos" next week.  Because that´s my favorite part.  And a little bit about Chahuites. Because my time is up.

Oh, I just talked with the assistants, and I´m almost positive we´ll be able to skype for Mother's Day.  The time limit is 40 minutes :/ but, that´s ok!  We´ll probably do it on Mexican Mother´s Day (always the 10th) because my comp is going to be Mexican.  I´ll let you know for sure next week.  Also, from talking to them I learned that my new companion is the Elder Reyes that I thought.  So, I´ve got that figured out now, too :)

Anyway, I love you all very much :) you´re great.  And I love you.  If I didn´t already mention that.  Seriously though.  I´m just in a really great mood today (don´t think it´s because I´m glad to be getting rid of my comp, because we did really get along really well!).  So, I love you all extra much. 

:)

Con mucho amor,

Elder Andrew Nickerl

April 22, 2013--Week 60

Dear Fam,

So, I feel like these weekly emails get really repetitive.  Same old, same old around here :) I´m doing well.  I´m happy.  I´m constantly sweating, but that´s ok :) hmm... what else?  People here stare at us a lot.  Like right now there are these two little kids here in the ciber with their mom and they´ve been staring at us for like 10 minutes.  I think it´s because they´re used to seeing missionaries, but not two gringos.  And, Elder Enke is like 4 inches taller than I am and played football and lacrosse in high school too so we pretty much walk around like giants around here.  It´s kind of comical.  Yeah :) I don't have too much else to say nor do I have pictures to send today.  And I´m running out of time.  So, I´ll just share a scripture real fast :) I´m going to start doing weekly scriptures again, I think, since I´ve pretty much adjusted to the computer time being how it is now.  

The scripture is in Doctrine and Covenants.  That reminds me--everyone here says "Doctrinas y Convenios", which really bugs me, because it´s not Docrinas, it´s Doctrina!  There is only ONE doctrine.  But anyway.  Sorry for that rant.  The scripture is Doctrine and Covenants 50:41-44.  I don´t really have any comments on the scripture.  I just like it a lot :) I love the way that the Lord speaks in these verses.  That´s something really special about Doctrine and Covenants, it´s the Lord´s own voice.  Anyway, I hope you guys love this scripture as much as I do.  Have a great week!  I love you all very very much and can´t wait to talk to you in just a few week (Also, I haven´t heard anything about it, but I´m assuming we get to skype like we did at Christmas.  I´ll ask next time I get a chance.)

Con mucho amor,

Elder Andrew Nickerl

April 15, 2013--Week 59

Hello everyone.

So, on the keyboard that I´m using today the number row doesn´t work, just the side one, so that means I can´t type exclamation points and parenthases and stuff... I´m going to have to copy and paste them in and will thus not use as many as I usually do and this email may not sound quite as animated as usually.  But I´m just as excited as usual, it´s just that the keyboard is a little depressed today.  

First of all, happy birthday to Adam and Jared!  I can´t believe you guys are already 18.  I feel like I just turned 18.  It really feels like almost no time has passed.  Pretty crazy. Wow.  

So, nothing new to report this week.  I feel like I kind of just do the same thing every week so there´s nothing really new to talk about.  But, we didn´t end up having a baptism this week.  We had to re-schedule it for a couple weeks out.  Other than that... really no new news.  We wake up.  We run.  We shower and get ready.  We study.  We leave.  It´s really hot.  We walk around a lot.  We go to people´s houses.  And we teach them about the Gospel :D and that´s that.  And then we get home, we plan for the next day, sometimes we eat, and then we go to sleep.  So there you have it.  

That´s about all for this week.  I love you all very much.  I pray for you often.  Have a great week!

Con mucho amor,

Elder Andrew Nickerl

I just wanted to send this funny picture.  This happens all the time in Mexico.  There are just drunk guys sleeping on the curb and sidewalk and I´ve always wanted to take a picture with one.  So I finally did.  My companion also took one by him.  It was pretty hilarious and we were really cracking up so we´re pretty surprised this guy didn´t wake up.

Our investigator has a new... Raccoon?  Yep, our investigator does have a blind raccoon.  First time I've touch a raccoon in my life.  But it get´s kind of viscous sometimes and bit me pretty hard so I don´t mess with it too much haha.