Trial of Faith

Dear Family,

So another week in Cross Lanes and man oh man it was soooo hard this last week!!! It was seriously the most crazy, frustrating week ever!! So normally I don't count cancelled appointments and stuff, but this week was so unreal I had to. We had 16 appointments we went to that stood us up!!! SIXTEEN!! And that's not counting several lessons that we called ahead to confirm and then they cancelled. If we hadn't called ahead that number would probably be higher. We hardly taught anyone this last week! And we dropped 3 of our investigators, all 3 of them simply were curious about the church and the Elders had already answered all of their questions. In all actuality the Elders should have dropped them weeks ago. Everyday we had a full schedule of all these people to see and everyday we ended up with nothing to do. And everyday I kept thinking that we'd already had 3 appointments fall through that day and the next one had to stick, but no! By Sunday I was so happy the week was over! I don't know what it is about people around here. I don't know if the people here are just really flaky or if the adversary is just working really hard. So if any of you have any ideas about how to get people to keep their commitments we are totally open to ideas.
So I have to tell you one story. So we went tracting several times this week and we seemed to really have lots of success. All kinds of people said we could come back and this isn't just some light response but they set a time and gave us their phone number. Every single one of them was not home when we went back!!! There was one guy we talked to, his name was AJ, that was super nice and he told us that we caught him at a good time because his family was actually looking for a church. Well we had an appointment on Friday and we were running late so we called to tell them we would be late and we got his wife. Well as soon as we said who we were she hung up! Well we thought that was a bad sign but decided to go for our appointment anyway. Well they didn't answer the door and they were obviously home. We tried a few more times and tried calling again, but they were obviously ignoring us. The only thing we can figure out is that they got anti-ed. It's weird how susceptible people are to anti, because usually its some crazy story that isn't very believable. I mean come on this is Sister Arnott and I we are talking about, we don't have horns or anything. Lucky for AJ though, there is a member family that lives in the same complex, so we have enlisted the members help to befriend AJ's family. "No unhallowed hand can stop the work of the Lord from progressing"!
One ray of sunshine this last week though. Her name is Kay. She's an older lady who lives in the apartments across from us. We had about 20 minutes one evening before 9, and absolutely nothing to do, so we decided to tract our apartment complex. We talked to her and she was busy but she told us to come back, she really wanted to talk to us. We went back the next night and taught her the first lesson. She told us she had talked to missionaries before. She grew up Baptist and didn't want to give up her religion and how she grew up, but she also felt there might be more and she didn't want to take that chance. We were so excited to hear her say that. We have taught her 2 lessons now and she really seems to like what she hears. She always is very touched when we talk about the Savior. She is going through some really hard stuff right now. She has cancer, diabetes, a severe infection, depression, and her son is giving her a hard time. When we go and teach Kay, the Spirit is so strong and Sister Arnott and I both feel very strongly that God loves her.
So it's getting to be spring and things are changing here. Remember how everyone told me I was going to eat squirrel, well I have yet to experience that, but I can see why people would eat squirrel here, because they are everywhere!!! And they are used to people because you can get pretty close. And there are tons of birds! I wake up every morning to a very loud choir of birds. Sister Arnott said she feels like Snow White with all the little animals. The other day she was singing like Drezel on Enchanted trying to call the birds to our assistance! Oh I keep forgetting to tell you this, Sister Arnott is a cat person!! She almost likes cats more than I do if you can believe that!!! And oh wow, there are so many crazy cat ladies around here! There are ladies who don't hardly have any money but buy pounds and pounds of cat food, to feed all the stray cats around! And you go to their house and they have bowls of cat food all over their porch and you can see several cats slinking around their house all the time. Crazy! I received several more Birthday cards and packages, this week! Thank-you!
This week was very very hard, but it was a good learning experience. It's always the hard and bad things I seem to learn the most from. I learned that even when it's hard you can't get upset or sad, because it just makes everything worse. We can't control the outside forces so we should let them effect us. If we do everything we can than the rest is out of our control and we should trust God to take care of it. Sister Arnott and I were both pretty grumpy this last week and it just kept getting worse, because our bad feelings towards each other kept building. I learned that saying I'm sorry even though it is hard and truthfully talking about what is wrong helps sooo much. After that we go along great and the Spirit was there so much more. And even though we still didn't have tons of success yesterday, we were still happy because we had a good time. Ether 12:6 says that we receive no witness until after the trial of our faith. Well I really had my faith tested this week, and hopefully this week we will start to see the witnesses. If not I guess I haven't been sufficiently tried yet, but I know that this is the Lord's work and He will take care of things. The more I am out on my mission the more I have a testimony that the church is true and God loves us!
I love you all, hope you have a good week (and hope we do too!) Oh how are those missionary experiences coming? Keep praying!!!

Love, Sister Nicole Polatis

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!

**CHECK OUT THE NEW PICTURE ON THE SLIDE SHOW TO THE RIGHT**

Dear Family,

Thank you for all the Birthday stuff!!! It was really fun, I got lots of cards and mail. THANK YOU!!! So I should tell you about my Birthday. It was pretty much a normal day, but it was good. It started off kind of rough, because we totally forgot about daylight savings and so we woke up an hour late!!! And then President called a few minutes after we got up to wish me a Happy Birthday. I probably sounded like I was still in bed! Ha ha We went to church and it was excellent, the Spirit was strong. We didn’t have a dinner appointment, but then the Dillistone’s (he’s the ward mission leader) asked us if we had any where for dinner and then invited us over. I had made it a point not to tell anyone it was my Birthday, I didn’t really want all the fuss. But the elders let it slip to Sister Dillistone, and for dessert she had already made a cake! So it turned out good. Then we went and did some work. Unfortunately our only appointment fell through. We went and saw this less active family and they have four kids. Their house was very dirty and so were their kids, they were extremely nice though. I had a hard time though, because the youngest kid (he was probably 5) had very dirty hands and he was invading on my bubble! He unzipped my bag and started digging through it and taking things out. And my bag is all organized and I didn’t want him to get things all sticky! And then he started getting out my wallet and then he started pulling out my pocket knife. So I’m trying to keep my stuff together and talk to the family at the same time. Then he got a pop and was drinking it and burping and it got all over his hands. And he was sitting right next to me on the couch (pretty much in my lap) and he kept touching me with his sticky hands. And then!! It looked like he had scrapped up his elbow earlier that day and it was bloody and he kept putting his elbow on my arm!!! So I was kind of freaked out. Needless to say I was happy to leave. The day wasn’t the most productive day, but it was still good. When we got home I opened all my presents and cards and then we had cheesecake. And then to make it all that much better, Sister Hill called me!!! She had seen President the night before and he gave her permission to call me. It was so great to talk to her again!! And especially since Sister Hill was here in Teays Valley before she was in Christiansburg, so we talked about the area some. It was a good Birthday!
I should tell you a little about West Virginia. Well all the license plates say “Wild, Wonderful” and I think that says it pretty well. It just feels different here and I would explain it as wild. The roads are very narrow. Some of them are only one lane, and we aren’t talking back roads, we are talking roads in town, in the neighborhoods. And there are so many pot holes! It seems that more people here smoke. In Virginia most people would smoke outside even of their own homes. But here everyone smokes inside and so we smell really terrible everyday. And there is a wide variety of people here. Now I’m starting to understand all those jokes about the tooth brush being invented here (if it had been invented anywhere else it would be called the teeth brush ha ha ha) although for the most part most people have all their teeth. We have a really large area, and we have to really conserve miles. We are going to ask for bikes because it would really help us save some miles for when we go places that are further away. The ward here is really nice, but very spread out and most of the members live on the other side of the ward and not in our area. The members here are not as missionary minded as the Christiansburg ward was, which is weird because they just got a new bishop and the old one used to be a mission president. So we are going to work on the ward and get them excited about missionary work. In Preach My Gospel it promised that when the missionaries and the members work together the work will go forth powerfully. So don’t forget to be great member missionaries and help this work go forward!!! Look around for how you can help.
So Sister Arnott and I are finally getting settled in and used to the area. We have had kind of a rough start here. We both kind of felt a little lost and stressed and that caused a little bit of tension in our companionship, but this week we talked about it and made some changes and these last few days have been awesome. I think the biggest problem was that when we first got here we didn’t do tons of missionary work, mostly we went through records, did planning, and followed the Elders around as they introduced us to people. Now though we are getting to work, and it is making us both feel happier. On Saturday, we did service and I learned how to use an axe and split wood! I will send some pictures, they look pretty funny. Yesterday we had a great day. We didn’t actually teach too many lessons, and all of our appointments fell through, but it still felt like a good day. Sister Arnott and I were both really happy. We went tracting for a few hours and found some really solid follow ups. Usually people are kind of like, “oh well yeah you can come back.” But they won’t set a solid time and you go back and they aren’t home or they aren’t interested. But 3 people yesterday set a time and a date without us even digging for one.
On Saturday we were looking for some former investigators and we went to one house and the girl we were looking for doesn’t live there anymore, but we got a return appointment with the girl that lives there. In Preach My Gospel it tells you that the Lord will lead you to people that are being prepared. Hopefully all of our diligent efforts will pay off.
On Thursday we taught the Stop Smoking Workshop to Chris. He wants to stop really bad, he actually can’t stand the smell of cigarette smoke, weird for someone who smokes. At first when we asked him to crush his remaining cigarettes, he said no way. But then when we were done, I think we had him so determined to quit that he went out to his car and broke his last one! It was great! We haven’t been able to get a hold of him since then and we found out he has been sick. Hopefully he stayed strong though. We teach a lot of people who smoke and most of them really want to quit and they have tried to quit before. I never knew that smoking was so addictive, but people really, really struggle to quit. And we teach the Stop Smoking Workshop which is pretty much guaranteed that you will stop smoking if you will follow the steps. The problem is most people don’t follow all the steps and so they don’t stop smoking. It all goes back to them having a firm desire to quit. Jason is the only person I have taught who quit smoking, and the difference is that he was converted. He wanted to repent and follow Christ. He had a firm testimony of the Book of Mormon. And really the Book of Mormon is what changes people, it brings us closer to God. It gives us that testimony we need to change and have the motivation to keep trying. In Preach My Gospel there is a quote by President Hinckley that says no matter how many times we have read the Book of Mormon, we should read it again. And he promises that every time we do we will have a stronger resolve to do what is right. The Book of Mormon is a powerful book because it is the word of God, given to us in this day to help us know truth. If we will read it and pray about it our testimony of Christ will be stronger.

I love you all!! Thanks for all the Birthday Love!!!

Love, Sister Nicole Polatis

I Left My Heart in Christianburg

Hello My Dear Dear Family,

So you’ve all heard I got transferred, well it was more of I got yanked out of my old area and thrown into a brand new one. President called us on Wednesday totally out of the blue and said that he was moving us to Teays Valley, West Virginia. And we needed to be ready to go by Saturday. He said get all of our investigators handed over to the elders and that new elders were coming in but they would be walking so they wouldn’t be able to go see most of our investigators. He didn’t say why we were being moved except for that he thought that we could do really good with some of the investigators here. It was a total shock!! We had just gotten out of a wonderful lesson with a girl named Brooke. We had invited her to church and had committed her to be baptized when she knows the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. And then wham!!! We won’t even be there any more. We were also teaching this girl named Bridgett, who really wants to be baptized and has a lot of self worth issues. And I really think that sisters would be better for her than Elders. And then we were going to go see this lady named Linda, who had walked up to the Elders when they were at the library and wanted to know more about our church. But when the Elders went, she said she would prefer women, so we were going to go see her and we never got a chance. We also had a baptismal date with Brother Farmer for March 21st. We had several new investigators that were very promising. And Justin was getting out of jail on Saturday! So as you can see things were going very well in Christiansburg. And I wasn’t even leaving Sister Arnott who knows these people and what is going on. It was so hard to leave and so sad. That all that work I had done, I would have to leave behind and I couldn’t even leave it with my companion. However, thankfully, Elder Richards and Elder Packer are excellent missionaries and they will take care of things. I am not very happy though about the missionaries who got moved in. They are walking because they totaled their car! And they are moved because the Branch President asked that they be moved out of their ward. Luckily they don’t have a car and so they can’t go see our investigators. I know I sound mean. I was super sad to leave the ward and all the people I’ve gotten to know and love. And as you can see there was so much going on in Christiansburg, so whatever the Lord needs us here for must be really important.
The last few days have been super busy getting packed and saying good-bye. And then getting here, unpacking, and learning a whole new area. We live in Crosslanes, but we are in the Teays Valley ward. And we cover a bunch of little towns, Nitro, Poca. Crosslanes, etc. The elders that have been covering this area were covering the whole ward. Now they are only covering half. They have been doing a lot of work here and so we have quite a few investigators. We got here at 6:00 Saturday and spent the rest of the evening unpacking and going to the store. We followed the Assistants up here. The last couple of days have been crazy as we’ve meet tons of new people and got lost several times. This is a whole different place than Christiansburg was. The roads are crazy and we are having a wonderful time trying to figure out where we are. The roads are a lot narrower here. The people and ward are very different too. Sister Arnott and I were saying that it feels different here, not in a bad way, but it definitely doesn’t feel comfortable yet. I feel like a fish out of water. The only thing I know on a mission is Christiansburg and I feel a little lost. Luckily the work and teaching are still the same. And I’m starting to get things down. I know the Lord will help us. The interesting thing I’ve discovered is that at this time I need the Lord’s help more than ever, but I have been so busy and scattered that I don’t feel like I have invited His help. My studies have not been very good, and my prayers have been quick and many times a little faithless. It was really hard moving here, but I need to have faith this is where the Lord needs me. Miracles cannot happen without faith. And I received a blessing before I left Christiansburg that the Lord has many things in store for us here. But I can’t do my part without faith. So I have realized that I have been lacking and now I am trying to be faithful and believing. Things are starting to get into a routine now. Don’t get me wrong this hasn’t been all terrible, it’s actually been quite fun and exciting. And I am excited to go to a new area. It’s been a real adventure. I am sad to leave, but I know that I was getting discouraged in Christiansburg.
I really really LOVED the ward and the investigators we had in Christiansburg, but I know that this work is in the Lord’s hands and He will take care of those people there. God loves us and will take care of us.
I love you all!!!!
Love, Sister Nicole Polatis

A Whole New Adventure

Packing up, moving out

Hello My Dear Dear Family,

So you’ve all heard I got transferred, well it was more of I got yanked out of my old area and thrown into a brand new one. President called us on Wednesday totally out of the blue and said that he was moving us to Teays Valley, West Virginia. And we needed to be ready to go by Saturday. He said get all of our investigators handed over to the elders and that new elders were coming in but they would be walking so they wouldn’t be able to go see most of our investigators. He didn’t say why we were being moved except for that he thought that we could do really good with some of the investigators here. It was a total shock!! We had just gotten out of a wonderful lesson with a girl named Brooke. We had invited her to church and had committed her to be baptized when she knows the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. And then wham!!! We won’t even be there any more. We were also teaching this girl named Bridgett, who really wants to be baptized and has a lot of self worth issues. And I really think that sisters would be better for her than Elders. And then we were going to go see this lady named Linda, who had walked up to the Elders when they were at the library and wanted to know more about our church. But when the Elders went, she said she would prefer women, so we were going to go see her and we never got a chance. We also had a baptismal date with Brother Farmer for March 21st. We had several new investigators that were very promising. And Justin was getting out of jail on Saturday! So as you can see things were going very well in Christiansburg. And I wasn’t even leaving Sister Arnott who knows these people and what is going on. It was so hard to leave and so sad. That all that work I had done, I would have to leave behind and I couldn’t even leave it with my companion. However, thankfully, Elder Richards and Elder Packer are excellent missionaries and they will take care of things. I am not very happy though about the missionaries who got moved in. They are walking because they totaled their car! And they are moved because the Branch President asked that they be moved out of their ward. Luckily they don’t have a car and so they can’t go see our investigators. I know I sound mean. I was super sad to leave the ward and all the people I’ve gotten to know and love. And as you can see there was so much going on in Christiansburg, so whatever the Lord needs us here for must be really important.
The last few days have been super busy getting packed and saying good-bye. And then getting here, unpacking, and learning a whole new area. We live in Crosslanes, but we are in the Teays Valley ward. And we cover a bunch of little towns, Nitro, Poca. Crosslanes, etc. The elders that have been covering this area were covering the whole ward. Now they are only covering half. They have been doing a lot of work here and so we have quite a few investigators. We got here at 6:00 Saturday and spent the rest of the evening unpacking and going to the store. We followed the Assistants up here. The last couple of days have been crazy as we’ve meet tons of new people and got lost several times. This is a whole different place than Christiansburg was. The roads are crazy and we are having a wonderful time trying to figure out where we are. The roads are a lot narrower here. The people and ward are very different too. Sister Arnott and I were saying that it feels different here, not in a bad way, but it definitely doesn’t feel comfortable yet. I feel like a fish out of water. The only thing I know on a mission is Christiansburg and I feel a little lost. Luckily the work and teaching are still the same. And I’m starting to get things down. I know the Lord will help us. The interesting thing I’ve discovered is that at this time I need the Lord’s help more than ever, but I have been so busy and scattered that I don’t feel like I have invited His help. My studies have not been very good, and my prayers have been quick and many times a little faithless. It was really hard moving here, but I need to have faith this is where the Lord needs me. Miracles cannot happen without faith. And I received a blessing before I left Christiansburg that the Lord has many things in store for us here. But I can’t do my part without faith. So I have realized that I have been lacking and now I am trying to be faithful and believing. Things are starting to get into a routine now. Don’t get me wrong this hasn’t been all terrible, it’s actually been quite fun and exciting. And I am excited to go to a new area. It’s been a real adventure. I am sad to leave, but I know that I was getting discouraged in Christiansburg.
I really really LOVED the ward and the investigators we had in Christiansburg, but I know that this work is in the Lord’s hands and He will take care of those people there. God loves us and will take care of us.
I love you all!!!!

Love, Sister Nicole Polatis

District in Christianburg

Following the APS, It was raining

This the capital building in Charleston, we are by Charleston now

On the road