"I've Never been so wet from Sweat!" - 9/5/13

Hi everyone! How is everyone doing? I was very excited for today since I was not able to write you all yesterday! Oh PS HAPPY LABOR DAY!! I hope you all had a great day yesterday! I missed the fireworks big time. I loved going to  them every year. How were they? We didn't get any fireworks here. I was a little sad about that. Well yesterday for P-day all of the missionaries from the West Bank went to the World War II Museum. It was pretty legit! We all will have to go to it when I get home. It was rated the #1 attraction in New Orleans. It was really cool. We were able to watch a movie there and it was awesome! First movie I have seen in awhile. Don't worry though... Our mission President approved it. haha  

So I am glad everything back home has been going really well. Thanks for all of the letters and the packages you send me. They really cheer me up so much. I love them! Tell Jacque Happy Birthday for me! I am sad I missed it and the party.. How was the party? Jen told me that boys were invited? I bet she loved that, but Dave I bet you weren't digging that too much! haha Just kidding. How are all of my other nieces and nephews? I miss all of them so much. I look at pictures and wonder what they are going to look like in 2 years. That is crazy to think! Boston is going to have a deep voice haha. Well mom I am not going to lie... I am glad you went with Jill and grandma to the church sites, because they are going to be your new partners! haha. Hey so I have some bad news... I was not able to play golf yesterday... We are going maybe next week so I am hoping! Dad I am jealous that all of you get to go play Hill Field today in a tournament. You all better win for me... I really like that course except that I always played so badly!!! Oh well.. Kick some booty and get another W! Well good news... I am over my cold! I got over it by Tuesday. Thank goodness. Now to answer your questions momma:

1. We get $157 a month. This first month was a little tougher, because you had to buy all of the things you need like a pillow, a comforter, and some things you need down here. It has not been to hard living on a budget. I eat pretty well down here. I try and get fruit every time I go and veggies. I eat a lot of rice and noodles. For lunch I have a pb&j or a deli sandwiches. I am doing pretty well. Breakfast I have eggs and oatmeal and cereal. I only use my card on things I absolutely need like a bike repair tool or something like that. 

2. My morning studies have been really good. I start at 8 and read from the Book of Mormon. I am almost done with 2 Nephi. I have been getting so much more out of it. I also study the Pamphlets and Preach my Gospel. Then Companion study we start at 9 and go to 10 and go over what we did and do some role playing. Then we have from 10-11 the 12 week program. I have to do this for 12 weeks. It is like a training.

3. I do a lot of push-ups and core exercises. We have a gym and my comp doesn't ever like to get up in the morning to go so I just exercise by myself. I don't mind it at all. I actually have been gaining a lot of muscle. I've almost got my 6 pack back! The biking is helping a lot, but my legs are getting so big... I am worried that I won’t fit in my pants anymore! Haha. 

4. I usually don't hear from the mission president that often. He sends all of the missionary’s letters a couple times a week and I read all of those. I send him a weekly email as well. The only time we will really see him is at specialized training, zone conferences, or trainings. 

So this past week was really good. We did so much service! We had 18 hours of service! We had a specialized training on Thursday and Friday and we built a huge shed. I have pictures and I'll send them home when I can. It was so much fun. I really enjoyed it because it was really hard work. I have never been so wet from sweat in my life! It was crazy! I loved it though. We have had a couple of lessons this week as well. We got a new referral and we are going to go checkup on her today. I have been teaching some lessons. We always teach in unity though. My comp sometimes doesn't give me an opportunity to teach so I have been talking to him about that. I will sometimes just interrupt and say what I want to say. It has been a lot better though. We visit a lot of members and less active members and I always give them a spiritual thought from the Book of Mormon. I enjoy that. We are trying to find more people. That is what we have really been working on. It sometimes is hard though, because my comp doesn't really like to talk to people. I have been trying to help him on that. Well nothing else too big happened this week. I have been trying my best to work as hard as I can. These past couple of days have been pretty tough though. I have been pretty homesick. I miss you guys a lot. On Saturday I woke up super homesick and I asked Elder Provost if he would give me a blessing. It took a lot of nerve... He said yes. As he gave it to me he went over everything that I needed to hear and everything I was thinking about. It was a 30 minute blessing. I felt the spirit like crazy. I was crying like crazy... I hate being emotional. Whenever I feel the spirit I just break. My comp gives me crap for it, but then I just tell him that the chicks dig it and that shuts him up pretty fast! haha :) One of the reasons it has been really hard is because one of the Elders that lives with us is going home this next transfer so he only has a week and a half left. It has been hard because it makes me think about going home. The only problem is I have 16 transfers left... haha I just started! I try not to think about it, but it is hard. That has been probably the toughest thing this week.

But don't worry about me. I know I can do this. And there is no way I am going to give up. There is a quote that we listen to and it talks about pain. It says. "Pain is temporary; it may last for a minute, for an hour, for a day, or maybe even a year. But it will subside. If I quit, however, it will last forever." That is so true. Yes the mission is hard, but it would be so much harder going home and quitting. That is not even an option. I am glad I made that decision before my mission. Other than the homesickness everything has been pretty good. I have been sleeping well. I have been getting along with my comp pretty well. We have our ups and our downs. haha. But I have seen so much growth in myself. My testimony has been strengthened so much. I now know the true meaning of sacrifice. Luckily for me it is only a sacrifice for 2 years. That is easy! haha... (Not really, but it sounded good) haha. Time has been going by fast and slow at the same time. I am already almost done with my first transfer! I've been out for almost a month and a half! This is pretty cool. Well that is about it. Mom I love you. And I miss you so much. I look at your pictures every day. I hope you have been doing well. Dad I love you too! I miss you so much and I look at your picture as well. I have the picture of us 3 on my desk. I love it! The rest of my family I love you all so much! Thanks for all of the support and all of the prayers. I feel them and I definitely need them! I love you all so much! Until we meet again.

Love Elder Nick!