May 16, 2016--Week 40

Hey everyone,

I don't have a whole lot to report on in terms of news this week. Pretty much everyone that we found last week dropped us or the other way around so we don't really have anyone to teach still, but that is okay, we will keep trying. 

This Sunday I gave a talk in church on how living Christlike lives leads to missionary work and then I met everyone else in the ward I didn't meet last week. I think I have met them all and know them by name. I have worked using my notes and ward list to have all of their names memorized as soon as possible and I am glad I have because I feel that it will help our relationships with them. 

We are excited to have a new week here. We are going to continue to try and find people and work with the members in the ward. I am excited to be here and I am very thankful for the help from on high that I have received this week to boost my spirits in hard times. I truly have been super happy for some reason all week when I don't really feel like I have a good reason for it, but I am super happy here. I know this is because of the tender mercies of the Lord. As I have started through the Book of Mormon again, I am looking to find all of the tender mercies that Nephi points out will be there. As I have done so, I have better been able to see the hand of the Lord in my life and I am so thankful for that. 

I hope you all have a great week! Let me know if I can do anything for you.

-Elder Nickerl

May 9, 2016--Week 39

Hey everyone,

So this week was great, but let me start of by saying that I love my new area. I didn't know anything about it last week and so I had no clue what to expect, but it is a great place (Toms River, NJ). The members are awesome!  My new companion Elder Runyan is also awesome (he's about to go home this transfer) so he is very experienced and knows what he is doing.  I am learning a ton and the people in this area are super nice and friendly.  My new area has the biggest population of Jews outside of Israel (I think it is close to 60% which is cool for everything except missionary work).  I miss the Korean language and culture, but I am really excited to be here. 

As for this week, we did a fair amount of contacting and we had some solid finds and a few lessons scattered within. The coolest part of the week was finding a few teenagers here in this area this week.  We've already had our second lesson with them and they are all very interested.  It’s great to have three new investigators for us who are all young men age (which is great for this ward because there are no youth). We are super excited and think things will go really well with them. They are not the average teenagers you meet. They are very interested in finding the correct path so much so that they read the bible for fun together. When I was 15/16, I didn't do that for fun with friends. So they are super great. Their names are Nick, John, and Shaymis. Then we also met some cool people on Saturday names Bruce and Denia who are also great people. So we hope that goes well. We have return appointments with all of these people for this next week so pray that these all go through. 

As for other things:  there are no Koreans or anything relating to Korea here, so that is unfortunate. My language is going to suffer, but I speak to myself in the mirror a lot for fun and for practice. 

Also, I got to FaceTime home yesterday for Mother's Day and got to talk to the best family in the world.  

Hope you all have a great week!

-Elder Nickerl

May 2, 2016--Week 38

Hey everyone,

So this week is transfers, and I am finally transferring. I have mixed emotions about going. I am going to very Southern New Jersey in Toms River (an English area) with a companion I do not know named Elder Runyun. I hear that he is a great, hard-working missionary.  I’ll have more updates next week about the new area, but I am excited to have a new change of scenery and to go learn from an experienced missionary. I am a little bummed to leave the members here who I have come to love and I will miss the familiarity of the Korean area. Also I will miss being able to speak in Korean a lot with my companion, because something tells me Elder Runyun doesn't speak Korean.  But I really am glad for the new opportunities that I know this will bring. 

I’m sorry that I have so little time to write this week. I am also sorry that I won't be getting around to emailing people as I have to pack here and get ready to go.  I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love, Elder Nickerl

P.S. Exchanges with Elder Gim. Pretty much the best food I have ever eaten. The meat was amazing.