Lillian

This is a picture of that lady I talked about in my letter, Lillian.

oh P.S.

I forgot to tell you. It takes about 3 days for letters to get here. So sorry if I didn't answer questions you had in your letters, it was probably because I haven't got it yet. If you write on Sunday, mail it Monday, (which is what a lot of people do) it gets here Thursday.

LOVE YOU

Open your Mouth

Dear Polatis Family & Co.

So this week has been great. They say it takes about 2 weeks to adjust completely and I feel very adjusted. In fact I feel like I have been here for much longer than 2 weeks. We are staying busy, which is what I like. It is only when I don't have anything to do that I start getting discouraged or homesick. So luckily I haven't experienced much of that. When we are teaching and serving I feel so happy!! There are some lessons where the Spirit is so strong and the people we are teaching can feel it too. The Spirit is really what makes people want to change their lives. I have seen how when people make those changes they become happier and have much better lives. The saying comes to mind that if what you are doing isn't working than do something different. And I see that with people, if they aren't happy with their lives than they obviously need to change.
The other day we got an order for a Bible, so we went to the address and found out that the lady had moved. So we spent the next half hour hunting for the address because we couldn't understand her (she was on the phone) and she didn't know the exact address. She kept saying just drive down the road a little ways (it was like 3 miles!). We finally got there and met Lillian, who is a TINY, old lady who doesn't have an esophagus and is really hard to understand. We listened to her for about 40 minutes about all the horrible things that have happened to her and her family, about how her last landlord was a crack dealer and now all her neighbors are crack dealers, and how important God and the Bible is. Granted this is what I got from it, I didn't understand half of what she was saying and she didn't seem to understand any of what we said. She showed us a newspaper article about her mom, who had 20 children! She said she was in the Guinness book of world records. So could someone look that up for me. We finally left her with a Book of Mormon and told her we would pray for her. Oh yeah, we said a prayer with her and she grabbed our hands and squeezed so hard we had marks on our hands for the next 15 minutes. She reminded me of some fantasy character in a book, a goblin I think, in how she looked and talked and had such a tight grip. I felt really bad, she just wanted company, but we can't go back and teach her again because neither of us can understand one another. All we can do is pray.
So as far as Virginia goes, I don't even notice a difference in the humidity. However, I guess they are in sort of a drought here and everything has been really dry. Pretty much it feels like Idaho, but I will probably be eating my words soon. Everyone here are Virginia Tech fans. I have never seen such school spirit in my life! They have huge stickers on the back of their cars, banners in their yards, VT mailboxes, even garden rocks that are painted VT colors! I can't wait until football season starts! Another big thing around here are personalized license plates. We have a really good time trying to figure out what they say. And some of them are really funny.
People here have a really hard time pronouncing my name. Most of our investigators can't remember how to say it. Lots of people are like "Will you say the prayer, Sist . . .(they look at my nametag, pause and then)..er." So their sentence has that dropped sound as if they were going to say more. Most people just call me Sister. I was talking to the Zone Leaders and found that you can get a new nametag and you can order what should be on it for only $3. So any suggestions for a new last name?:)

We are teaching one lady right now, her name is Anna, and she is a golden, golden investigator who doesn't know it yet. She was introduced to the church by a member and so she started going to church. She had been going for 5 weeks before someone pointed her out to the missionaries. So Sister Hill and her last companion, Sister Johnson, started teaching her. She has been reading the Book of Mormon as well as some church history books. She keeps all of the commitments the missionaries give her. She goes to church every week after attending her own church and attends Sunday School and Relief Society. She even pays tithing and donates to the missionary fund! A few weeks ago Sister Hill and Johnson taught her about the Word of Wisdom, because Anna had asked about it. And we found out this week she has been living it and said she feels better and plans to keep living it! Oh and she wants to start doing family history! See what I mean about golden, except for one thing. We asked her last week if she would be baptized and found out she doesn't see a need. She believes all churches have authority and she has already been baptized. So we taught her about the priesthood and wow when we bore our testimonies about how important it is and how it blesses our lives, I felt that if I didn't believe it before I believed it now! I'm not sure how Anna felt though, she was just quiet. Then we asked her to pray to know about the Book of Mormon and it took a lot of convincing to get her to commit to it. She says she wants to read the whole thing first. So we are still working with her, but she is amazing.
Yesterday, it rained ALL day. And 3 of our appointments fell through, so we didn't have anything to do except go tracting in the rain. And when you are working hard even though you are getting wet, the Lord will bless you. We got 3 people tell us they wanted us to come back! Which for tracting that is really good. Sometimes you tract all day and no one will let you in. We also got a referral last night! I also got my first door slammed in my face, it was actually really funny (Sister Hill is still laughing about it). We knocked on the door and a lady answered, as soon as she saw us she quickly said in about 1.5 seconds "Nothanksnotinterestedbye" with a look of terror on her face. So I guess Sister Hill and I are a frightening sight, which is hilarious because this is me and Sister Hill (if you have seen my pictures) looks like a sweet 17 year old girl. Also we went tracting on a street and meet an older man who is Baptist. And when he opened the door we thought he was going to yell at us, but he was relatively nice and said he already knew all about the Mormons (except he was surprised we were girls) and he didn't believe it. We tried to talk to him for a while, but with Bible Bashers all you can do is bear your testimony because you don't want to fight. I think he was a little touched by what we said, but when you are fixed in your ways there is no changing. In the end he said we hoped we would come to the truth so that we would be saved. With people like that you see how truly religious they are and good hearted, but you can't get them to change and it is hard. That is actually a pretty good example of how it is around here. Almost everyone is religious and attends church and so they will listen or be concerned about our salvation, but they don't want to change. And the biggest problem is they won't believe in anything but the Bible. But the Book of Mormon is so important! And the prophets we have today are so important. It shows that God still speaks to us just like he did to prophets in the Bible. And we should not limit Him to just one book. God loves us and wants to give us guidance on how to return to Him.
I never realized how important members were to missionary work until now. And it is soooo important that the members are involved in helping to find people who are ready to teach and to help retain members as well. Pretty much half of our ward in inactive and some of those people we visit, were converted, didn't really get involved in the Church, and then quit going. Missionaries come and go and can't always be there to make sure those people stay active. Members are always there and can become the friends that missionaries can't be. And it is so helpful when members volunteer to come help you teach, because lessons are always better with members. And it is easier to get people to church when they meet someone from the ward, so they know they will have a friend at church. It isn't just the missionary's job to bring people to the church, it is everyone's job, which is why we are all to have a copy of Preach My Gospel and use it. If my mission has done nothing else it has motivated me to be a better member missionary.

I LOVE you ALL. And know that this is the true church, because we have the church that Christ set up on the earth when He was here, restored again, with the full power and authority from God. And everyone should have an opportunity to have the blessings that come from being part of Christ's church. So "open your mouth" (D&C 60:2-3, 33:8) and be great member missionaries! I know that if you do it with a prayer in your heart, Heavenly Father will give you exactly what to say, because He has done it for me. I try to talk to everyone and sometimes it is scary but God will help us.

Love, Sister Nicole Polatis

P.S. Hope harvest, home, and school is going great, because I have no idea. I need details! Polatis Family you write but with no details, I want to know what is happening in your lives!

PICTURES!!!

Me and Sister Hill

Elder Bishop and Elder Solomon (he is making the funny face), our zone leaders, Sister Hill and I and Elizabeth our investigator.

All the Sisters in the mission except 2. There are 14 sisters in the whole mission and that is all we are allowed so we won't be getting more. Although one is going home next transfer.

My First Week

My Dear and Wonderful Family,

So I survived my first week here on the mission!!! YAY! Yesterday we had zone conference. Zone conference is the first week of every transfer. It was great. President Thornock had lots of great stuff to tell us. One thing he talked about was getting the members involved. He gave us an idea about how when we go over to member's houses for meals and they ask us how we are and if we need anything. Then we tell them that there is something we need them to do: And we give them a couple of names of our investigators to have them pray for. I am way excited to use this, because we really need to get the members involved. Plus this will help them become more excited and involved in missionary work. It wasn't until now that I realize how important members are to the work. We really need them to help us find new people and then to help fellowship them. We have TONS of less active people in our ward and it makes our job so much easier when the members help fellowship. A lot of the members in this ward are really great about helping us. They also feed us a lot, we really only have to make lunch and dinner about half the time. The ward is huge though. The people that live farthest away have to travel 45 minutes to get to church! There used to be us, the sisters, and then a set of Elders in the ward, but now it is just us. One of the Elders was having back problems so they sent him to Charleston to be closer to doctors and since there wasn't very much work here they sent his companion somewhere else. So we have a huge area to cover and not very many miles. We get 1,000 miles per month.
Also President Thornock had each companionship set a goal for how many baptisms they were going to get this transfer. All together the mission has set 168 baptisms for this transfer (the next 6 weeks). Our zone leader is really amazing, Elder Bishop, and when he talked he said we need to have faith that this is the Lord's work and He will help us. With faith we can move mountains, and 168 is our mountain. President Thornock said if that number seems too large then to just take our goal and do it one baptism at a time. Which I have also found is helpful advice for my mission. Somedays I feel so overwhelmed by everything that needs to be done and everything that I need to study. And sometimes it is really hard thinking about doing this everyday for the next year and a half. But if you just take it one day at a time and concentrate on today then time goes by fast and you get a lot done in one day.

I can't remember what I told you about my companion so I will just start over. Her name is Sister Hill, she has been out for 6 months. Her family lives in Ukon, Idaho, but she grew up in Michigan. She goes to BYU-I studying broadcasting. And guess what!!? She snowboards!!! She has been to Targhee and loves it too!!! We actually have a lot in common, like what we like to eat and do and opinions on things. We have good times together. She laughs at me though because I am always hungry. No joke, I seriously need food all the time. I am going to come home huge. 

So I have really had my eyes opened just in this first week. There really aren't that many members here and there are a lot of less actives and part member families, which is very different from little, sheltered Idaho. I have met a lot of people in and out of the church who have been divorced and remarried (some of the stories are really sad) and the children have had to adjust as well. It makes me very grateful that my family has always been that constant in my life. Always there and never changing. As a missionary I am privy to a lot of details about people's lives. Either they tell us or we hear it from someone else. Some people have a lot of trials in their lives. And I want them to have the Gospel in their lives because it will help get them through those trials, but people can't see that and I can't force them. That is the hardest thing about a mission is seeing people reject the Gospel. The first day we went tracting and we found a lady who said we could come back. She seemed really interested and when we went back she had lots of questions and we thought we had struck gold. But by the end of the lesson we discovered that really she was just curious and she was kind of a Bible Basher. She had a really strong belief in her own religion. Pretty much she believes in predestination. That it was decided before we came here who was going to be saved. And God would lead those people to the truth. And once you have accepted Christ you are saved and you don't have to do anything else like be baptized or follow the commandments, but if you truly have accepted Christ than you would follow the commandments anyways. But you are saved by grace alone and nothing you do will save you. Nothing we said would change her mind, even scriptures that said that wasn't true in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. What a depressing way to live, thinking that not everyone has an equal chance to be saved. And thinking that there are no rewards or blessings for our actions.

A few other people we have been teaching are ready for baptism but because of their situations can't be. Like the Hales, they are 15 and 13, their mom has said that they can't be baptized until they are old enough to make the decision which is 18. And another girl whose parents don't really approve, but we are working on them. We are working a lot with less actives, a lot of these people have been truly humbled and are ready to come back into the church. We are also teaching a recent convert, Betsy, she got married about 6 months ago to a less active man, and then she joined the church, and then he died about 2 months ago. And this experience has only increased her faith and desire to get to the temple so she can be sealed to him. Her testimony and desire to learn are so strong. And it is fun to teach her, because she gets really excited when she learns something new, like this week we taught her about patriarchal blessings.

One of my biggest trials in teaching lessons are children and dogs. The kids cry and won't pay attention, and so their parents have a hard time paying attention. Then dogs run around and bark and want to be petted. One family has this HUGE dog, that chases the cat around the house. And then he comes and puts his head in our lap and drools and sheds all over. But at the same time, sometimes we teach families where the kids are so good and sit quietly and listen and ask really good questions. And I can't hold babies, which is sad because we teach a lot of people with babies, but I can hold dogs and cats and sometimes they are good and come curl up in my lap.

On Fridays we do service. We work for 2 hours in the morning at a clothing bank, just folding and sorting clothes. In the afternoon we go to an assisted living home and do activities with the elderly people there. They are really funny sometimes. Last week I played some hymns on the piano for them.

West Virginia and Virginia are way pretty and really green. There are so many trees and even the ground and the tree trunks are covered in leafy stuff. The roads are windy because they weave between the hills. There are 112 driving missions in the world and a few years ago our mission was ranked dead last. That is partly because sometimes the roads are so narrow they are only one lane, and during the winter it is probably really scary driving on such twisty roads. But now we are being more careful and Elder Lincoln, he is in charge of the cars, says that we are more up in the 50s. We went out to dinner at one member family's house and they lived clear up in the hills with a crazy steep driveway. But they have a great view of the really green hills and trees.

The more I learn about the Atonement and how much Christ loves me the more I want to share it. Read Alma 36 and look for how the Atonement changed Alma the younger's life and how it made him want to bring others unto repentance. I really love that chapter, because I too have felt how much joy the Atonement and Gospel has brought into my life. Well I am doing great. I love you all. Hope school and harvest go wonderfully!!!

Love,
Sister Nicole Polatis

Pictures!!! and the Real First Letter.

President and Sister Thornock

Nicole and her companion Sister Hill

This is actually the very first letter that my family got from Nicole in West Virginia and Mom typed it up for me to post on the Blog.

Dear Family!

I am Here! West Virginia is beautiful! They weren't kidding when they said it was green and hilly, in fact that is an understatement! Some one compared it to broccoli, that is definitely what it looked like from the plane. It is not humid here, they say it is unusually dry here, pretty much the weather has been perfect. We got here about 5:30 (WV time) (3:30 your time). Our plane was delayed several hours in Atlanta. So we tried to do some contacting in the airport. It was so hard! It's weird going up to people and starting a conversation about religion, but once you get started talking, it's not too bad. And then! I taught the 1st lesson to the man sitting next to me on the plane! Ahh! It was great practice, but kind of terrifying. He really wasn't interested, but he was nice and he listened. He took the pass along card and said he would think about it, but refused both a Book of Mormon and the missionaries. He told us a lot about West Virginia. Anyway, pretty much I already love it here, and the mission president and his wife are amazing! Last night we spent the night at the mission home and today we meet our trainers. I will be with Sister Hill, but I haven't met her yet. I LOVE YOU ALL!

Love,

Sister Polatis ( in WV ! )

Christiansburg, Virginia