Fun and More Fun

Dear Family,

So this last week has been really hard and we haven't had much success. We went tracting a lot! But it has been a really fun week. Last P-day we had a Zone P-day and we carved pumpkins. Sister Hill and I had the best pumpkin, his name is Gadiation and we carved the Plan of Salvation. I will send pictures. Then this P-day (today) we went on a hike with two other companionships. We went to Cascade Falls which is about a half hour south of us. It was really pretty and COLD. It snowed while we were up there, only a little bit and just real tiny flakes, but still SNOW! Yesterday we had district meeting and sometimes after district meeting we go to lunch somewhere, and yesterday we went to Ben and Jerry's and took the Vermonater challenge. What it is: 20 scoops of icecream, 1 brownie, 4 cookies, 5 bananas, 10 scoops of walnuts, 4 ounces of caramel, sprinkles, reese's pieces, mini m&ms, and a ton of whip cream on top. Pretty healthy lunch. We had ten people and you are timed to see who can eat it the fastest. The time to beat was 2:03 and the record was set by a bunch of young kids so we thought it would be no problem to beat. It took us 3:08! And that was hard! But it was way fun! We might try again next week. On Friday we went to the ward trunk or treat and we helped do the games. Those kids were crazy!!! They had way too much sugar! Sister Hill and I wanted to dress up but there is so little we can do so we dressed up as each other which pretty much was us just switching name tags. And that just seemed to confuse people.
Okay now for the best part of the week: Celine's baptism!! She was baptized on Sunday evening and it was way neat. After she got out of the font and was drying off in the dressing room, she kept saying she felt so different but couldn't explain it, and she wished she could speak better English so she could tell us how she was feeling. She kept saying "It isn't just water!" She didn't have to explain because you could feel it. I felt like God was really happy Celine had gotten baptized. And even though Celine had already been mostly taught and committed to baptism before I got there, I am really glad I got to be part of it.
Other good news, we went over to see Tonia and she told us she couldn't talk long because her and her boyfriend, Travis, were going to get a marriage license because they were getting married that night! They had been planning it for a week as a surprise for her daughter's birthday (that is what her daughter asked for) We were really excited and relieved because we had been planning to teach her the Law of Chastity and tell her that either they need to get married or he needed to move out. Now we just need to help her stop smoking, she has already said she wants to. Sometimes God has prepared people and they are already starting to make the right choices. Her family is awesome and last night we committed them to baptism! It will probably be later in November or beginning of December.
Oh so the Passic's (I think I told you about them before) are this really awesome family in our ward. And we were visiting them the other day and Sister Passic asked if we had coats since it was getting cold. I said I was going to buy one next P-day and she freaked out because I didn't have a coat. And started pulling coats out and when those ones didn't fit me she went to her own closet and started pulling out coats that she still wore! I tried to tell her I had a light coat and I was going to buy a winter one next week. But she insisted and wouldn't let me leave the house without one. So I told her I would take it on loan and bring it back when I got my own. They are really nice and we never leave their house without food.
I don't really know what else to tell you because this week has been really trying. I was sick at the beginning of the week and then I gave it to Sister Hill and she is sick now. It isn't anything too bad just sore throat and cough and runny nose. But we are getting through it. And missionary work is hard because salvation isn't easy. But it's the Lord's work and He will make it happen.
I heard from Darci and Jared that you went to Boise to see Brittany's games. And that they won their second game. But I haven't heard from anyone else. Tell me more! I got Dad and Darci's letters, Thanks! Oh and mom I filled out the application for the absentee ballot and I voted yesterday. Thank you! Hope everything is going great. I Love you! Have a Happy Halloween!

Love, Sister Polatis

Praying really works

Dear Family,

This week was awesome, we had lots of fun. Sister Hill's Birthday was on Thursday and I realized that Birthday's in the mission are awesome. She got a lot of packages with lots of crazy things in them and lots of food. I conspired with the Elders and we made her a cake (well they made it, I just told them what kind she liked and gave them money.) Then turns out Jyl Robinson conspired with Sister Hill's mom and made her her favorite dinner and cherry pie (It's her favorite) Oh Jyl is the daughter of the Passic's, I don't know if I have told you about them, but they are an awesome family who feed the missionaries once a month and then whenever they find out we don't have a meal. They are so nice and AMAZING. Sister Passic is always trying to give us food (she thinks we are starving) and is always so willing to help us out. So anyways back to the Birthday it was really fun, even for me and it wasn't even my Birthday. And then to end an excellent day we had an amazing lesson with Tonia and her family. I think I already told you about Tonia. We are teaching her 3 boys now, and her boyfriend (Travis) sits in for a few minutes here and there. We have had two lessons with the whole family, and both lessons have been amazing. They ask lots of questions, and you can tell they really think about it. They asked us if they could be baptized! We have only got through the first 2 lessons, so next time we see them we are going to explain that baptism is a covenant and involves other things than just getting wet. They are a great family and we also have fun when we go over there. It almost seems too good to be true, but then miracles do happen!
Speaking of miracles God really does answer prayers. I have a couple of stories to tell you. First one, the other day I had taken my camera out of my bag to use it and then left it on the seat of the car. I guess I had put my bag next to it and then when I pulled my bag out of the car I had pulled the camera out too. The next day I was looking for my camera and couldn't find it and realized that it must have fallen out. We had gone to see about 5 people the night before and so we decided to drive to each house and see if it was on the ground. Sister Hill suggested we say a prayer and after we did asked me where I wanted to go first, and so I said the first place that came to my mind (the member's house we had gone to for dinner). We went there and my camera was there one the ground!!! There's no way the first place we picked happened to be the right one, we were totally directed by the spirit. I know this seems like a small deal (its just a camera, its not an investigator or something) but it was proof to me that God does answer prayers. Next story, the elders and us planned to show "The Testaments" at the library as a community event, like a family movie night as way to find people who were ready to hear the Gospel. And as a way for members to invite their friends to something casual to introduce them to the church. So we planned it, made fliers, had the newspaper advertise it, and put it in the program at church. Then we got to church that Sunday and found out the Trunk or Treat had been just been moved to the very night we were doing the showing. So we talked to the Bishopric and they advised canceling it and moving it to next month because they had just decided in ward counsel that the next month was going to be focused on the ward mission plan. They said we would get more support from the ward if we did it that way. So we cancelled it just minutes before Sacrament started and they announced in Sacrament it was postponed. It was really disappointing for us because we had already gone to a lot of work and handed out fliers and stuff. And we have really been praying for this event to be successful because both us and the elders don't have a very big teaching pool and this was a way to find more people. And so later while I was stewing over all the effort we put in for this just to be cancelled and all the praying we had done that was for nothing. Then it came to my mind that this WAS the answer to our prayers, the Lord knew that we would have more success if we waited. And then my testimony that this was the answer to our prayers was strengthened this weekend at Stake Conference. They announced that the stake is going to be focused on missionary work. They talked about how important it is to spread the Gospel and then they told everyone to get a Preach My Gospel, read it, and then make individual and family mission plans. As missionaries we were pretty much jumping out of our seats with excitement, this is what we have been encouraging the members to do every time we have a dinner appointment. So now that the members are getting excited about missionary work, we will give them the perfect opportunity to invite their friends to!!
Stake Conference was awesome, it even inspired me to want to read Preach My Gospel more and I study it pretty much everyday. This truly is an inspired book. I have heard people say that this book was created beyond the veil and assembled here. So get one and study it, it's awesome! Great idea for family home evenings!!
Oh so I just want to tell everyone how amazing my companion is. So not last July but the one before that, her dad got in a motorcycle accident and had a heart attack and died. She said that just a few days before she was driving in her car and she had this thought that if her dad died she needed to go on a mission. She said it was really weird because she hadn't really been thinking about going on a mission and her dad was fine. Then her dad died and she made the decision to go on a mission. She went into the MTC that very next February. Her family had just moved to Idaho in the last year and were living with her grandparents. So her family was still in limbo and looking for a house when she left. She seems sad about her dad's death, but not devastated. And the way she talks about it I would think it was years ago. Don't get me wrong she isn't in denial or trying not to think about it, she talks about it and him a lot, she is just always very cheerful. I think the Lord is just really blessing her and her family for serving a mission. Actually we were talking the other day and Elder Lundin and I are the only missionaries in our district that have two parents still married and alive. And before Elder Lundin got transferred here I was the only missionary. Everyone's parents are either divorced, left when they were little, or died. How strange for a bunch of Mormon missionaries. Interesting coincidence?
Anyways how are things at home? I hear Darci is getting curly hair. I'm guessing harvest is over and so things are probably winding down. Brittany, GOOD LUCK at State!!! Go, FIGHT, WIN!!!! I want to hear more about the playoff game. No one has mentioned football so I am guessing it is over? And Alanna holds the record for the longest letter written, I LOVED it!! Oh, mom asked if the baptism for Celine was still on for this week and it is. I hope you all have a fabulous week and I love you.

Lots of Love from Christiansburg,
Sister Nicole Polatis

Virginia is GREAT

Hey my family!!!

Soon to be an additional family member!!! YAY!! So thank you Keshia for filling me on with what happened. I was going crazy last week because I had no idea what was going on. Seriously leaving me with just "I'm engaged, it's going to be January 1st. Bye." I felt really sad that I was missing everything, but now that I have details I feel a lot better about it. And a lot happier that my sister is getting married!!! YAY!! So keep me informed about the wedding plans. Oh and Sister Hill and I were talking about you getting a cardboard cutout of me but we didn't think you would actually do it. But I think that you can order them through Dear Elder so I will be sending you a picture ha ha. And that's great that Kurt will be carrying me around, just remember to watch me close, I can only shake hands with boys, no other contact. 
Britty, CONGRATULATIONS on going to state, that is so wicked awesome!!! How did the boy's team do I hear they are better this year? I still have not seen pictures from Homecoming yet. In case you don't get the hint I really want some! Nathan, Jared is football over yet? How is that going? I heard you got snow, I'm a little jealous, but it's too bad it snowed on your games and during harvest.
So the leaves are changing colors here and it is AWESOME. The colors are a lot more vivid here. Red leaves are RED, and the orange leaves are way bright. I will try and capture it on camera for you. Another thing, I told you how much school spirit Virginia Tech fans have, but I don't think you understand yet. Everyday it blows my mind how crazy these people are about their Hokies (A Hoky is pretty much a turkey and its their mascot). So tons of people have wreaths, but they aren't fall wreaths they are Virginia teach wreaths! People have VT mailboxes, VT garden stones, VT bumper stickers, VT everything! You kind find anything VT at Walmart they have a whole section devoted to it. I have even seen cars painted VT colors, maroon and orange. And don't even try going tracting during a VT football game, no one will talk to you or they just won't open the door. Crazy People!
Okay so this week has been pretty busy. On Wednesday we had an appointment with Celine. Celine is from the Congo, she used to be the president of a college there. Then the rebels killed her family but she wasn't killed because she wasn't around for some reason. So she had to leave the country, I think she came over with some sort of program that this guy, Maurice, came up with to help people in Africa. (I'm not exactly sure on the details) Maurice was baptized a few months ago and referred us to Celine. Celine has been taught for probably 5-6 months but she hasn't been able to be baptized until she moved out of her living situation. The family she was living with was very anti and she had to sneak out to meet with us. She is moved out now and is going to be baptized on October 26th!!!!! YAYA! Celine is 31 and has a 2 year old son named Dixon, who is crazy and runs around and makes trouble. She speaks French and has only been speaking English for about 7 months. So the language is sometimes an issue in helping her understand and she has a hard time understanding things said at church. But she is way SMART and I am surprised at the things she catches what with the language and her son running around like he ate a bag of sugar.
I like I told you about Tonia last time. She is a member referral (actually the only investigators we have that are progressing have been member referrals, hint hint, members are awesome and need to get involved!!!) Anyways back from that tangent, Tonia's sons are starting to sit in our lessons and they are getting really excited about mutual. Their family has also experienced a lot of death and so teaching the Plan of Salvation has really helped them. We found out that one of her sons, Brandon, is kind of friends with a member, Keagan Bowman. So we went and talked to Keagan about inviting them to mutual, plus Brother and Sister Bowman are both in the Young Men's and Women's (And they are from Idaho too!! Preston) And they were really excited about helping out, which helps us so much. (Member involvement is great) And Keagan says Brandon has asked him questions before, but he never thought to invite Brandon to church or mutual. So don't be scared to invite people if they show interest, some people are really searching for help but don't know where to find it unless we show them.
Okay so I saved the best for last. Several months ago Sister Hill had been teaching this girl named Amanda. Amanda has been taught for a long time now, I'm not sure how long and she has had several baptismal dates but it never happened because she has issues with the Law of Chastity. Anyways we stopped by to see how she was doing and found out she is pregnant. We visited for a while and the things I heard were CRAZY!! Here goes. She doesn't know who the father is, it could be one of three guys and one of those guys is only 16 (she is 20)!! She is part of this gang and was initiated when she was 9 and she is trying to decide if she should initiate her baby when it is born. Because the baby will be protected and will always have friends (gang members) but Amanda said that being part of the gang has made her who she is and she would like the baby to have a choice. The gang sounds like a secret combination straight from the Book of Mormon! And then she has been "with" this guy for a really long time and they have been off and on for years. Well at one point she got the first letter of his name tattooed on her back, which means that she is his girl (so it is like a branding). And this is all coming from a girl who is tiny, speaks really soft, has glasses, and just really doesn't seem the type to be involved in all this. I can tell that she wants to be different and have the best for her baby but either she doesn't know how to change or doesn't want to change. We are going to start teaching her again, hopefully having a baby will help her have the courage to change. Wow!! The Gospel really blesses us and gives us freedom. She is stuck in a path she doesn't want to go in and all because of bad choices that lead to other bad choices. So you might think that the commandments limit you, but really it is allowing you freedom to be and do whatever you want to be. Something else I am realizing is I used to think that church, meetings, activities, visiting teaching were taking up my time. But really there was nothing better I could have been doing. And really what is our eventual goal in life? All these church things help us get there. Our investigators have a hard time making church a priority because they have other things they think need to get done, when really if we go to church everything else will fall into place and be much easier.
I love you all, keep reading your scriptures and saying your prayers. Make it a priority and everything else will fall into place!!

With Love from Virginia,

Sister Nicole Polatis

HELLO

Dear Family,

This week was awesome, mostly because of General Conference. I LOVED it. It was really different watching all of the sessions at the church, but I think I got a lot more out of it doing it that way. Hope your crepes were amazingly delicious. So who holds the record for most crepes eaten? We had one investigator there which was so great!!! Its crazy hard getting people to church, it's like pulling teeth!
Last Friday we went with the old folks from Wheatland to a pumpkin patch! Its called Sinkland Farms and you go and take a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch and you get to pick a pumpkin to buy. We actually just took a hay ride and then they gave us pumpkins because there was no way they were going to be walking through the pumpkin patch with their walkers and wheel chairs! It was actually really funny, they loaded the people in wheelchairs onto the wagons right off the buses using the lifts. The pumpkin patch was awesome, there were acres and acres of orange pumpkins!!!
That's really neat about the Singles Branches new presidency. Paul will be awesome and he has great counselors!!! I can't wait to come back to the Branch!! Brittany, congratulations on the wins!!! That's awesome!! Keep working hard and go all the way to STATE! Jared, that's awesome that you have won some games too!! Nathan, how is football going for you?
Keshia!!!!!! I can't believe you are engaged!!! WOW! And you didn't give me any details!!! Tell me all about it!!!
So Kurt and Alanna asked me about our investigators. Ok so one lady who is a member referral, her name is Tonya, she is really nice and chatty. She is a single mother and has four kids. She left her husband days before she gave birth to her fourth because she had had enough of him abusing drugs and beating her. Way to go!! She is all about family and trying to teach her kids not to be dead beats. Every time we talk to her I can see how much the Church can help and bless her life. She seems excited about the church but has been sick lately so hasn't really been progressing.
Next is a girl who we meet tracting, Tanisha, she is 16. It's really hard for us to tell how much interest she actually has or if she is just trying to be nice. We have met with her about 3 times. She has really great questions so we know she is paying attention to what we teach, but she isn't keeping commitments. Commitments are things we ask them to do like read the scriptures or come to church. By inviting them to do these things we help them understand how to repent and change their lives. And if they do them we know they have a sincere desire to change.
Then we have Cheyanne, she is the "not girlfriend" of a member in the ward. (They are pretty much dating but his parents won't let them date for various reasons, one being he is working on his mission papers.) Anyways she has been taught for almost 8 months now and she really seems to grasp and understand everything. But she is so quiet and hardly answers our questions so we aren't sure how much her desire to learn about the Gospel comes from the boy or from actual interest, probably a little of both. She has said that she doesn't really want to be baptized until he is gone on a mission so she knows its for herself.
Then we have Eli, his dad is a less active. Eli has been taught for years and he knows a lot and has an AMAZING testimony for an 11 year old. But he is very torn by his parents. His mom wants him to be able to make the choice for himself with no pressure from anyone and she wants him to be really aware of all the choices, so she is taking him to some other churches over the next couple weeks. His dad has had some issues in the past and obviously doesn't want his kids to go through the same things, so he really wants them to learn about the church and accept it. The problem is he isn't a very good example, he had Word of Wisdom issues and I have only seen him at church 2 times. He knows its true he just doesn't want to change.
In the past few months I have meet so many people who have such trials and messed up lives and it was their choices that got them there. Some had hard situations but really it was their choices that got them in that mess. And they can't seem to see a way out. Or they think that it is just too hard. But the way out is the Gospel and the principles are so simple. As missionaries and members we can show them there is a way out and help them take one little step at a time. It really isn't that hard to follow the principles of the Gospel, we just make it hard on ourselves by refusing to change. That is the biggest problem with all of our investigators, they don't want to change, but if they look really hard they will see that they are hurting themselves by not changing. Satan makes it seem like the path we are on is the easiest and maybe it is for now, its going downhill but eventually the path will have to go up hill and then it will be really hard and steep. But if they go the way that God would have us go, it looks hard because it is going uphill but it really is just a gradual incline. And in the end it is a much easier way to get to the top than going down and then having to climb out of the hole to the top. Luckily if we are in a hole, Christ is there to lift us out of it. So don't be afraid to change, it will be much easier to do it now! If you don't like the path you are on then only you can change it. I have been studying about humility in the Christlike attributes section of Preach My Gospel. If we will be humble enough to accept that what we are doing is wrong and look to do things God's way, He will help us.

I LOVE you all,

Sister Nicole Polatis

Car jacks and sprinkles...

This is when Elder Cloyd and Elder Richards got a flat tire and they called us and said they had a jack but no wrench or way to get the jack up. So this is us coming to the rescue and then me telling them that they do have all the tools, and they just have to detach it from the jack. Good thing I grew up on a farm ha ha!!

We were freezing was because we had just stood out in the rain talking to one of our investigators and we soo cold and wet.
This is my Zone. Elder Lundin is the elder in the very back with the pondering look on his face. Elder Richards is the Elder on the right, blonde with glasses, folding his arms with the huge smile which is how he always looks. (always smiling)

The Elder looking at me funny is Elder Marshall, no idea why he finds me so repulsive!!


We get coupons for this ice cream place for buy one get one free so sometimes we get ice cream. Sister Hill LOVES sprinkles.

My Spiritually High Week

Dear Polatis Family,

This week has been AWESOME!! We went to the General Relief Society Broadcast on Saturday and one of our investigators came too!! Her name is Anna I told you about her, she is the one that pays tithing, lives the word of wisdom, etc but doesn't believe in one true church and doesn't want to be baptized. We are still working with her though. Hopefully she felt something at the broadcast. She has been really interested in temples so hopefully the talk on temples by Sister Allred got her thinking about how important temples and ordinances are. The spirit was so strong at the broadcast and everyone gave wonderful, powerful talks. I really like Sister Beck's and President Uchtdorf's, everyone should read them. I liked what Sister Beck said about catching the vision of Relief Society, if everyone could catch that vision it would really help us as missionaries. And this doesn't just apply to Relief Society either, if the whole church could catch the vision of the importance of being examples and helping others it would be awesome. The more I am on a mission the more I understand the covenants we made at baptism and what that means for us as members. It means that we promised the Lord to help those around us and also to keep our standards high so we can be examples. As I understand the promise we make at baptism and how important it is and the BLESSINGS we will receive, it makes me want to try harder to keep my side of the bargain. We had dinner with the Patriarch and his wife (the Larsen's) last night and he was telling us about a blessing he gave to a girl and in it he felt prompted to tell her that charity is knowing how to help people and then doing it. What an interesting way to look at it! President Uchtdorf's talk was about service and being compassionate and how it is part of our divine heritage to serve and to be happy. So I hope we all continue to work on being charitable and being happy (it is our heritage!!!) And read Uchtdorf's talk!!!
The only thing about the broadcast was it made me really homesick. Last year I attended it in person and I was just remembering how awesome it was and that I went with my roommate. And then I was really missing Salt Lake and Utah and college. And then when they were showing the audience I saw a girl from my ward! I didn't know her very well though. But I am really sad that I won't be able to watch it with you, conference really is one of my favorite family times that we have. But everybody needs to eat an extra crepe for me!! I like mine with doubled up crepes, peaches, cinnamon, brown sugar, and lots of whip cream! And don't forget to LISTEN. This is a PROPHET of the Lord we are talking about. How can we profess to believe in prophets and the scriptures and then not listen to the prophet we have that speaks specifically for us! If we will listen to every talk with an open heart and mind, ready to learn, the Spirit will carry it unto our hearts (2 Ne 33:1) But the Spirit can only bring it TO our hearts not INTO our hearts, so do your part and listen with the purpose to learn and then FOLLOW and DO what you learned. DON'T FALL ASLEEP!!!
Then yesterday we had Zone Conference. What a great idea starting the transfer with such a strong, spiritual meeting! I had been getting kind of down and discouraged by the end of last transfer. Now I have new ideas to try out and faith to exercise!! President Thornock gave an excellent talk about faith. Faith is 3 things, first having a hope (something that you want to try out, like to know if the Book of Mormon is true), then putting that on trial (doing something, like reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it, but you have to give it a fair trial just like in court, go about it the right way with real intent) and then you will see the evidence (as you read the Book of Mormon it will answer your questions and as you pray you will feel GOOD). I can't wait to use this model to see how the Lord will do miracles through our faith!
Alanna said I haven't been mentioning food which is strange for me. Sister Hill laughed at that because she said it is so true!! Ok well we have a meal calendar that we pass around at church and the members sign up. We get dinner pretty much 5 times a week and lunch about 2 times. The rest is up to us and it is usually PB&H or pasta. The members always feed us really good and they feed us A LOT! That is where I am getting my weight from that and they give us dessert almost every time. I have eaten some really good stuff that I wish I would have gotten the recipe for. We are trying to make the meals with the members more of a missionary tool than just dinner. The ideal would be that they would invite their non member friends to dinner too, but that doesn't happen very often. Actually in other missions if you don't have a non-member there you can't feed the missionaries. But dinners are good for building relationships with members so we know who we can ask for help in fellowshipping our investigators. And we teach a lesson and it is usually oriented around helping the members be better missionaries and setting goals.
Oh so there were Elders in our ward and then they were gone, and then they were back and then they were gone, and now they are back!! We currently have Elder Richards and Elder Lundin. They seem way awesome. Elder Cloyd that was here just went home on Monday because he has been having back problems, hopefully he will come back soon though.
So remember how I talked about Preach My Gospel. Well the other day we were at the Passic's house (they are an awesome family that feeds us a lot and helps us a lot too) and Brother Passic had just finished reading the whole thing!! And he had marked it up really good. And he said that it really helped him understand how members could better help the missionaries and what missionaries actually do. And he said he wished he had the section about Stake and Ward Leaders when he had been a Bishop. And then he showed us this awesome power point about how much more effective the missionaries were when the Bishopric and ward leaders supported and helped the missionaries. So read Preach My Gospel so you can know what you can do to help the missionaries. I see the members who help us out so much and I hope that is the member I can be after my mission.

Keep being amazing!!! I LOVE you all

Love, Sister Nicole Polatis

PS I will try and write more about our investigators next time I promise and it won't be so preachy but I am just so excited about the things I am learning!!! And THANKYOU for the package Alanna it was AWESOME!