Thanksgiving at the M.T.C.

Hey mamacita!

   So, first off let me say HAPPY THANKSGIVING! And I know everyone misses my cranberry sauce this year.  Oh!  Pants day is on Wednesday for us here. However, I am not sure what day it is in DC. I leave from the MTC at 8:30pm on December 6th to head to the Salt Lake Airport. Our flight leaves at 12:50 am on the 7th of December.... AND I get to make a phone call home from the airport! Yay! So I will call the business line sometime after 9pm and before midnight thirty. I know that is late for you mom but I'm sure you will be able to handle it! I am so excited!  I love love love love love getting letters because I can read them the same day! Happiness in an envelope!

  Today is a very non busy day at the MTC. Meals are longer times and we have no classes. I already had my Thanksgiving dinner and it is only 1:45pm. We get to have a residence hall picnic with our sack lunches tonight. It will be a blast. There is this wonderful hispanic sister, Sister Gallego, (I call her my little galleta (cookie)) and we organized a Thanksgiving picnic. She is wonderful! Going to North Carolina on her mission, but she will be back at BYU one day and we will be friends. I am getting a more positive opinion about BYU every time I meet someone who is here. :) Missionaries are great! 

   At 10am this morning the missionaries at the MTC got to be part of the Holland family! That is right Jeffrey R. Holland came to speak to us and he told us, " The Hollands are your family today." We heard some of the most amazing testimonies from 3 elders and 1 sister from the congregation. One elder from China spoke about how thankful we should be that we can preach in this country as he cannot in his. It was very touching to realize how thankful I am for a country that has such religious freedom. Then the Holland grandchildren sang! There were 13 of them! Guess who I thought of when they sang? Tallon, Cali, Braxon, Christian, Mischa, Michael, Celia, Julia, Emma, Jade, Jimmie, Kazley, and Kadence!  That's right! I thought of my nieces and nephews and how wonderful all of them are. They sang that song... Whenever I feel the rain on my face or the wind as it rushes by.... I loved it! They were soooooooo cute! Sister Holland then spoke to us. She asked if we had any idea of how much the Savior loves us? She testified that God and Jesus love us, every one! Jesus Christ is real. He is my Savior AND my brother. I loved it! And last but not least Elder Holland! He spoke of 3 things.

  1- I am grateful that the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost know us individually. God knows you personally by name.

  2- Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have always had compassion for the poor. Impart of your supbstance to the poor and the needy. Be compassionate and charitable. (Alma 34) Live where they live, eat what they eat, sleep where they sleep, understand them, identify with them, and most importantly love them.

  3- God sent his only begotten Son to atone for the world. The Savior is the only person who will ever have to go through anything alone. Christ paid for all of our sins and everything else as well. He has felt our discouragement, our heartache, our depression, and all of our fears. He has velt every one of our tears. The reason we are serving missions is so that He doesn't have to keep going alone... He could use a little help. We are so lucky to have a loving brother who loved us so much that he was willing to take upon His shoulders the weight of the entire world. Jesus Christ is ALWAYS there for us.

This was a very spiritual day! And it has only just begun. To all of my family and friends. I love you! God be with you till we meet again.

    Love,

       Sister Nicole Gordon

One Week.....e-mail letter.....FINALLY!!!!

   Hola! Yo hablo espanol mucho a la MTC! I get to use a lot of spanish here. Mostly because there are lots of Spanish speaking missionaries. I have been contacted by several sets of Spanish missionaries and get to hear lessons in Spanish! I understand a lot and it makes me super happy.

 

I want to say THANK YOU for all of the letters! They have been so nice and supportive in this time that I have been gone. A whole week! I did pack my watch so no worries about that. I found my gold one amongst my other jewelry. Maybe the Lord packed it for me? 

 

Thank you also for sending me my talk! My companion read it and I think it helps her to understand me better. We are part of a pilot program... most missionaries practice teaching about 9 times while they are here. We will be teaching 22 times in 3 weeks. We have a lot of "progressing investigators" there is Tina, Derek, Katya, and Joseph. My companion and I are working hard on being obedient and on being unified. We get along really great and we teach very differently. It has been fun to learn to work with each others strengths. :) I love that the Lord gives us different strengths so that we can draw upon one another! 

 

I feel that way about families as well. As a single person we are but one with inadequacies. With a family (or companion) we become more complete and are strengthened. And for those of us who struggle with families or need more help God gives us the greatest friends ever!

 

I love the MTC. The food is good and if there is ever a day that it doesn't sound good there are awesome wraps in the cafeteria where you can build your own kind of like pita pit! Yum! I love my district with all of my heart! We have some of the greatest elders and sisters. I am pretty sure that the Lord hand picked us for each other. We had a great devotional last night from one of the Quorum of the Seventy and then we had a review with our district. Their testimonies were so touching and so beautiful. I loved it! I feel kind of like the big sister and we all know that I love that! 

 

Today we got to go to the temple! We had to wake up at 5am but it was SOOOOO worth it! I love the Provo Temple. It has now become so much prettier than I initially thought. I love this work! We also ate at the temple cafeteria together as a district! Lovely! It was like going out to a Celestial Restaurant. We are pretty certain that is how heaven will be. :)

 

I want to testify of God's love for all of you. I know that God will take care of those that I love while I am gone. I get to wear pants today and that is nice. Happy pants wearing day! I am pretty sure that the P-day should stand for pants day. Ha ha! Oh family I miss you! Oh friends I miss you! Oh mountains I miss you! And I am sooooooo excited to teach others this gospel! I know that this gospel has brought happiness to my life. True doctrine, when followed, changes everything. God is a loving Heavenly Father and he wants the best for all of his children. Please keep me in your prayers and know that you are in mine!   

                 God be with you till we meet again,

                                                  Sister Nicole Gordon

I have edited her letter somewhat to make it easier to read.  Also much blessings we FINALLY heard from her, as she'd been gone a whole week and no word.  We were getting a little worried she was having too much fun and forgot about us. ;D

First e-mail from Sister Gordon, Day 1

Hello my family! Day one and you are so lucky that I get to write! Blessing! Today has been fun! Yay for orange 1st day stickers! I just wanted to let you all know that I love you dearly. Also, extra blessing, I love my companion Sister Liddiard. She is also from Utah and I can already tell that we are going to be great friends! Love you so much I hope all of you are having a great time!

          God be with you till we meet again.

                   Love,

                       Sister Gordon

Arriving at the M.T.C.

Oh look, ambassadors to great me!

Grab those bags, quick, gotta get busy.

Sorry Mom and Dad, no time for tears, I've got lots of new friends to meet.

Sister Gordon's last lunch

Since Nikki need to eat before entering the MTC she decided she would like to stop at Mazza.  She would like to thank Sarah Stevens for introducing her to this restaurant.  Emily Nelson, Jessica Arlint and Sarah Stevens AKA JENS for being there for her first experience, Megan Starley and Lindsay Kite for sharing a Bomb Limeade evening and her parents for taking her today.  Remember to take memories and leave footprints.  LOVE YA! (as told by our own Sister Gordon)

Today I became a missionary.

Today I became a missionary. I report to the MTC tomorrow at 1pm. I would like to say thank you to all of my friends and family. You are great and wonderful people. Thank you for your love and support. I am excited for this adventure. I hope to spread all the love I can. You will all be in my prayers. May the Lord bless you and care for you while I am gone. :)
            Love,
                 Sister Gordon

Ecuador ---- Kim is inspired!

Really Nikki? You can't figure our where you are going? I've been trying to tell you.... Look at my shirt!