December 29th - Happy New Year!!!!!

Dear family and friends,

Hello!!  I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and I hope that you have some great goals planned for this year.  I love the Savior and His Gospel because it makes everything possible.

Phillippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

Shout out to Mom, Dad, Justin and Bryce, Keri and Craig, Camille and Riley, the Reese family (Bishop in my ward now), the Day family (in the Bishopric as well), the Andrews family (also in the Bishopric), Elisabeth Zenger (my 2nd mission companion!), Grandma & Grandpa Decker, the Ferrin family, and all others who sent me cards and packages!  I had such a fun week and I got at least 1 letter every day!  Christmas time is fun like that :) 

Make 2015 your best year EVER :)  Make this a fresh start!  Be a little kinder, a little more in shape ;P, a little happier, a little more loving, a little more studious, a little closer to the Savior and our Heavenly Father.

I had a WONDERFUL Christmas week!  Sister Ngawharau has been feeling much better so that has been a huge blessing to our companionship and the work :)

I'll share some highlights:

Christmas Eve

We had the most wonderful Christmas Eve!  We caroled at an old folks' home for a couple hours and met some amazing people there.  I had such a tender mercy of the Lord on Christmas Eve.  Last Christmas Eve, I was in Santa Rosa near the mission home so I ate at President and Sister Alba's home.  There the Alba's brought out these hand-made bells that each person got and depending on the number written on the bell, when you all took turns and played your number, it makes a song (hopefully that description makes sense).  I was a little sad this Christmas because I loved being at the Alba's and loved playing the bells, and knew that this Christmas would be different.

Here's the cool part: so, our Bishop and his wife had us over for Christmas Eve dinner.  It was pretty good, but my favorite part was the activities after!  We read the Christmas story and then they pulled out...BELLS!!!  And we played Christmas songs with the bells!  I almost started crying because it was such a tender mercy of Heavenly Father :)  He wanted my Christmas to be special so of all the people who could have fed us, Bishop Reese did, who also happened to have handmade bells :)  It was so much fun!

After dinner, our zone got together and did a little service project in the community :)  We gathered thermoses from members and filled them with hot water and bought cups and hot chocolate.  We split into two and went to downtown Vacaville and handed them out to the homeless people that were camped out at the park and under the bridges.  I didn't even realize how many people just camp around in Vacaville, which is a wealthier city than any of my other areas (minus St. Helena).  It was so humbling to be able to talk to them and ask them their stories.  They were also very humble and grateful and asked us who we were, and we were able to share the Gospel with them as well.  They were all good, good people who ended up losing their homes due to some bad decisions of themselves or others and are struggling to get back up on their feet.  Made my heart feel very warm :)

And Christmas was so amazing, too!!  It was our day of service!  Our zone caroled at a different old folks' home that morning and spent some time afterward talking to each of the people who came to listen.  Later we opened presents and Skyped (yay!! It was good to talk to you, family - see you in a few months!!) the family, and after that we caroled at a hospital like Sis. Zenger and I did last year :)  It was a special experience for sure.  It is touching to see how a simple song can brighten someone's day to the point that they are in tears.  I love serving :)  I felt so close to my Savior that day.  I am so thankful for being on a mission for two Christmases in a row and feeling the true reason for the season.  

I also finished the 4 Gospels challenge Christmas morning during studies and felt a warm glow inside of me afterward :)  There is a scripture in John 20 that talks about how the whole point of the 4 Gospels is to help us believe in Christ as our Savior and Redeemer. 

John 20:30-31

"And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."

I felt an overwhelming peace inside me as I received confirmation from the Holy Spirit that Jesus is the Christ :)  Not only that, but on Saturday I also finished reading "Jesus the Christ" by James E. Talmage - that book has also helped my faith in Jesus Christ grow.  I know this is His church on the Earth once again and that it holds His authority to do ordinances of salvation.  I am grateful for this time of safety and peace in my life when I have truly been able to take my testimony from just a belief to a firm conviction and firm conversion.

The rest of the evening of Christmas we spent at a member's home, Kathy, who fed us dinner with her family, and then at our high councilman over missionary work, Brother Beauchamp's, home.  We talked with him about Christ and also played some fun games with Brother Beauchamp and his family.

Best Christmas ever :)  I love Christmas in the mission field!  You all should try it out sometime ;)

I love being a missionary!  It truly is the best!!  My goals: finish out my mission strong!  Read the Book of Mormon at least 1 more time before I go home.  Study charity weekly and APPLY what I learn into everyday life.  Be an example of Christ at ALL times :)

I love you all so much!!  I hope you have a wonderful week and a safe, bright New Year celebration!!

Love,

Sister Kolee Decker

P.S. Funny story: I accidentally matchmaked at church yesterday haha.  These two people at church, Kennedy (girl) and Quentinn (boy), always sit alone.  I asked Kennedy if she wanted to sit next to Sis. N & I, then noticed Quentinn and asked him to join us as well.  They ended up talking and we saw our less-active member, Alex come in and sit alone, so then we told Kennedy and Quentinn we were moving to sit by Alex and left them to chat.  Haha.  THEN, they spent the rest of church together and sat by each other in all the classes!  Yay!! So it worked out great - now they have a friend at church!  #onlyinYSA #celestialmarriagemaybeafterQuentinnserveshismission ;) (Quentinn is leaving on a mission to Thailand in 3 months and is super stoked - he is a convert of 1 year and the only member in his family.  He is so amazing!  He just moved back from school at Oklahoma State to work a little before his mission.  He is a stellar example to me!)

December 22 - AZ Oranges & Merry CHRISTMAS!

Dear family & friends,

Merry Christmas!! I hope you take time on Christmas Day to truly appreciate the Savior and reach out and serve someone special (or even just a stranger) that day!

Shout out to Mom, Dad, Justin, & Bryce & the Ford family for the packages! And to the Ferrin family, Sis. Hardison, & Sis. Tollefson for the cards!

Also, DESTINY GOT BAPTIZED!!! Details to come later.

And next, shout out to Mom & Dad and family who sent me the DELICIOUS Arizona oranges and grapefruit!! They taste significantly different from oranges here. They are so sweet and yummy! Thanks again :) I ate a whole lot (and my companion doesn't like oranges, so hey, more for me!) and then I put 18 into a bag on Saturday so I could share them with our zone at our zone activity that day. On the way to our zone activity, we had time to contact so we pulled over for a minute and said a prayer to know where to go. The word "trees" came to Sis. Ngawharau's mind so I thought, "Okay, let's go to Nut Tree" - a shopping complex nearby. But then we both felt we should go to the park downtown...with lots of trees haha. While we contacted there, we ran into a potential investigator of our's named Orlando. He still had the Book of Mormon we gave him and we noticed he looked really down on his luck. He confided that he has been homeless and searching for a job to find a place to live. Immediately the oranges popped into my mind and then Sis. Ngawharau asked him if he was hungry. He said yes, and we told him we would be right back. We ran back to the car and grabbed the oranges and brought them to him. His eyes filled with tears and he said thank you and asked if we could say a prayer together. We said a prayer and offered him a ride to church the next day, and he accepted. 

Sunday morning, our ward mission leader, Justin, picked Orlando up! He loved Sacrament Meeting and was wearing this lovely red sweater - very Christmasy :) After church, though, he disappeared! We wondered what happened and asked a member Harrison, who had been befriending Orlando during church. He told us that another member, Blake, has been going through a rehab center in Santa Rosa and there was an extra room available, so he set things up for Orlando to have a place to stay for two weeks and they left for Santa Rosa after church! Talk about a good use for the rest of the oranges AND what an inspired prompting we received to go to the park in downtown Vacaville! #thechurchistrue #godisreal

Alright! This week was awesome! 

Monday: The doctors found a medication for Sis. N!! And figured out what was wrong: kidney stones. Lots of them. Ouchy.

Tuesday: Came down with a horrible cold haha. It's alright though. That night Destiny had her baptismal interview and did a great job! :) Elder Fonseca, our district leader, is awesome and helped her feel comfortable. It was super good, too, because she is pretty shy.

Wednesday: Transfer day! We had an all-mission Christmas devotional/lunch/party. Loads of pictures to come (they are all on my camera and we don't have access to a computer this week). My favorite part of the whole thing was a musical number to the primary children's song "Mary's Lullaby." Two sisters - Sister Afoa from New Zealand and Sister Fernandez from Spain - sang the coolest version of it on the ukelele. 

That night we also taught Destiny about temples and eternal marriage and the priesthood and missionary work. She invited so many people to her baptism! She is also trying to help her 12-year-old neighborhood friend start meeting with missionaries. She is STOKED for the temple. She also found out her brother who lives in Sacramento got baptized into our church 3 years ago!!! So amazing. And his girlfriend is on a mission in Costa Rica! Yay!! 

Thursday: Finished lesson 5 Laws and Ordinances with Destiny at Sister Nickolette's house! Yay! We also weekly planned and FINALLY felt well enough to go out and contact. Yay! It felt good to go out and work.

Friday: Sis. N woke up with a GIANT tooth ache. Had an emergency dentist trip, and found out that Sis. N needs a root canal :/ Ick. She is now on three prescription drugs to help with kidney stones, kidney stone pain, and tooth pain. The root canal is scheduled for January 8th. Poor girl! 

Here is what the doctors have said in all of our visits: 

1. Must be a stomach infection: antibiotics!

2. Must be constipation: poo milk!

3. Must be BAD constipation: poo powder!

4. Must be kidney stones: hardcore pain killer and kidney stone softener prescription!

5. Must be a rotten nerve: root canal!

Poor Sis. Ngawharau! I feel so bad for her - America has been ROUGH on her body so far. 

Saturday: Destiny got baptized!!! Her nonmember parents and nonmember brother came! And her member brother! :) Yay!!! It was such a beautiful baptism. And her parents hearts were really softened. AND, she only had to go under once! Huzzah! It was the smoothest baptism I've been a part of. Destiny was SO happy when she came up out of the water :) I love being able to be a part of people's lives and to be a tool in God's hands. There is nothing better! Also, earlier that day, the miracle with Orlando and the oranges :)

Sunday: Destiny got confirmed!! Her family attended that as well and her mother was especially touched by the hymns. Her whole family is interested now :) #familiesareforever AND, that whole miracle with Orlando getting a place to stay. Amazing how when we put forth our faith, we are IMMEDIATELY blessed.

Merry Christmas!! I love you all! I am especially excited to talk to mi familia! See you in a few days :)

Love,

Sister Nikole Decker

December 15 - Sick Weekend!

Dear family and friends,

Hey hey hey! Not too much has gone on since Thursday when I last wrote. 

We got transfer information on Friday night, and I am staying with Sister Ngawharau for Christmas here in the Solano YSA Ward in Vacaville! I will be here until at least February 3rd (that's when the next transfer is). I am stoked! And blessed. Vacaville's winter weather is similar to Arizona's (except all the rain), so it is pretty mild.

Not only the weather, but also the fact I get to stay with Sister Ngawharau for this 7-week transfer! I absolutely love her and her New Zealand-ness haha. She has gotten me saying so many New Zealand phrases now like:

"Oh man that's guttering" (similar to our phrase, "Man what a bummer")

"There'll be heaps of people there" (heaps is used for "lots" of something)

"Please pop the boot" (trunk of a car haha)

I am also excited for her to get feeling better! It has been hard to go hard in the paint like I am used to missionary work-wise because of her stomach illness that the doctors are trying to figure out.

Sister Ngawharau's stomach has been sick since Thursday morning and persisted all Friday and the majority of Saturday and Sunday...and today, sadly. It hurts her to be sitting or standing. It is the same sickness she felt from the very beginning, so we went to get an abdominal ultrasound Friday and will be getting results either today or tomorrow. President Alba happened to come to Vacaville Thursday evening for the stake presidency/mission presidency/zone leaders/sister training leaders meeting Vacaville Stake holds each month and he was able to give her a beautiful blessing, where he promised that the doctors will find out what is truly wrong with her body and that if she follows the counsel of the doctors exactly, she will be fully healed and serve the Lord to her fullest capacity. Keep her and the doctors in your prayers this week! 

In other news, it has been raining every day for about two weeks now! I love it :) Everything is turning super green (well, on the ground, that is...the trees leaves are almost all fallen down now ha). Like I mentioned Thursday, the temple trip to Oakland was fun and very very rainy! We didn't get to take a picture because it was raining too hard, so that was a bummer, but we did have a wonderful time in the temple and got there and back safely.

Destiny's baptism is this coming Saturday, December 20th! I am STOKED!! We only have a few more principles to teach her and then she will be set :) I am so grateful I am able to be a part of this amazing step in her journey. She truly is getting baptized with the end in mind - when we asked why she is excited for her baptism, she said, "Because I will be washed clean and then get a temple recommend to go inside the temple!" She is so incredible, I just love her so much. That is what it is all about! Going to the temple and partaking of the blessings God wants to give us there. Please keep her in your prayers, that she will be protected from Satan and that everything will run smoothly and that we can help her feel 100% prepared. Thank you!

As for the rest of the weekend, Friday evening Sister Ngawharau felt good enough to go out for a couple hours in the evening, and we attended the YSA ward's Christmas Party! It was a hit! So many less-active members came, and we had 3 nonmembers there: our two investigators Destiny and Kassandra, and a sister named Jessica who came with a less-active member. It was so much fun - we had dinner, games, and caroling and hot cocoa. It was so neat to just talk to people and feel the Spirit in the room touching everyone and softening their hearts. 

Emily McCurdy came as well! She is the sister who got baptized back in October. She suffers from mental illness and because of that has not been extremely active since her baptism and confirmation, but had a great time and pulled Sis. Ngawharau and I aside to talk to us and let her know her situation, and her desire to move forward and become active. She is moving to Washington D.C. in a month with her parents, but wants to end her stay in the YSA ward being active. Thank goodness! We have been trying our best to help her but there is only so much you can do 1-sided before you run out. It takes two to tango!

Saturday was a sick day as well. We did have a wonderful dinner and lesson with Alex Wixom and his family! It is such a miracle to see their progression! The only person holding their whole family back from full activity and conversion in the Church is their mom. Their mom got baptized by Alex's dad when Bro. Wixom was on his mission in Italy! However, Sis. Wixom got baptized for the wrong reasons, mostly to please people, and never gained her own testimony. When Bro. Wixom finished his mission, he went back to Italy and they dated and eventually married. When they moved to America from Italy and had a family, Sis. Wixom told Bro. Wixom no more Mormon church and went whole-heartedly back to her Catholic traditions. Out of respect, she allowed the three boys to be baptized into the Mormon church. They also were baptized into the Catholic church as babies. Aside from their baptism and confirmation, however, she has not supported anything related to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has discouraged activity and conversion. Bro. Wixom definitely has a burning testimony. It grows more and more each time we visit and we can see that. Will and Alex are also growing so much. The other brother, Sean, is indifferent and doesn't want to cause conflict, so he does not participate much but does like being present for the prayers. Sis. Wixom, though she still won't stay for lessons, really likes us and eats dinner with us now! So baby steps! Yay! 

I see from this family the clear, simple principle that the Restored Gospel blesses families. Three of the five in that family are just gasping for the peace and sweet, soothing air of the Restored Gospel. As Bro. Wixom, Alex, and Will have been keeping commitments, however, I can see glimmers of their future family, should they all choose to participate. Alex shared that since he has been learning more, he has just felt happier. More confident. Brave. Hopeful. It's amazing how Christ's true, pure Gospel (or in other words, "Good News") can not only shape us spiritually, but help in every aspect of our lives. He made a gratitude poster for the Christmas party and looked SO happy to be there :) He and his family definitely hold a special place in my heart.

As for Sunday...yep, another sick day. We attended ward council and just barely made it through Sacrament Meeting, then Sis. Ngawharau felt nauseous and her stomach was in a lot of pain from sitting for so long, so we had to leave :/ It was really hard not being at all three hours of church. It's been a pretty hard weekend, actually.

Being inside all day with little to do except read scriptures and ponder has been very...introspective. I had a humbling experience yesterday, though, with learning about the Great Apostasy after Christ's apostles died. I wanted to share my insight (warning, it is SUPER long) because lately many people we have been talking with on the streets have been telling us about the Trinity - this Godhead who is one-in-three and yet also three-in-one; who has a body sometimes and not at others; who is everywhere and nowhere. And it makes absolutely no sense to pray to this far-away, science-fiction, mysterious all-powerful being. Especially if the scriptures say God is the same yesterday, today, and forever... If that is true, then why is He a "shape-shifter?" Why do so many people claim that He cannot call another prophet if He has called prophets in the past? Why does He now expect innocent babies to be baptized for the remission of sins when He did not in Old Testament or New Testament times? Why do people say that you can't just "feel" something is right when God has told us over and over that we receive confirmation by the Holy Spirit, who works through our feelings? Why did Christ pray to Heavenly Father if They were the same? Why did a voice come from Heaven after Christ was baptized and say "this is my beloved Son" and then the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove if They are all the same? And I do not ask these questions not out of disrespect to ANY other religion. These were real questions that rolled through my mind yesterday and this past week. 

I really felt like Enos in the Book of Mormon - I had a long struggle with God yesterday on my knees and also in the scriptures, and now "I will tell you of the wrestle I had before God...my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens. And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed. And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away" (Enos 1:2,4-6). It was seriously JUST like the scriptures, but instead of guilt for my sins, it was doubt in my soul. So I prayed in "mighty prayer and supplication" and searched the word of God in the Bible and Book of Mormon and the words of an Apostle of God today, and I asked God to help me...and just like Enos' guilt was swept away, so was my doubt. :) It was so amazing!

Here is my story: 

I was wondering how there could be so many people and yet only one Heavenly Father. How does He answer and hear all our prayers? Then this thought came to mind: "Even though there is only 1 router, we all have Wi-Fi." Sounds silly, but then it clicked: God is only 1 person, and He DOES love us and wants us to feel His love. So He provided His Son so we could overcome death and sin and have an example to follow to help us get back to Him. He also provided the Holy Ghost so we could feel His love all the time. Just like the router/wi-fi example, even though there is one God, we can ALL feel His love. 

Then I was studying in Jesus the Christ, chapters 40-41, and trying to understand the Godhead more - how Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost work together as three separate personages, or if they really are this weird "all-in-one" deal. I remembered some great history as I was pondering, and thought about Constantine. He was the ruler over the Roman Empire for a loooong time. In about 315 AD, Constantine took over the Roman Empire and adopted Christianity as the religion of the empire to ease persecutions caused by Roman emperors over time, especially Nero. Diocletian, the emperor before Constantine, was not too bad.

Constantine decided to make himself the head of the church, even though he was not baptized. God never called Constantine to lead, Constantine called Constantine to lead. He named a capitol after himself (Constantinople) and called himself Pope, which means "Father." (The same time, priests in Greece protested and broke off as the Greek Catholic church) He exercised worldly and "spiritual" dominion and used the Church as a tool for dominance and "being the best," basically. Under Constantine, who again, lacked ANY authority from God, he changed the doctrine of baptism. He made the Sacrament a weird ritual of transubstantiation (the Sacrament was started by Christ to remember the symbols of His Atonement. Constantine had priests "change" the bread and wine into Christ's "actual" body and blood...) instead of repentant followers of Christ renewing sacred covenants made at baptism. He made up the act of spending money to be forgiven of sins, and confessing in advance so you could sin and then be forgiven. Over time, the Bible was taken away from the common people.

At this time, about 325 AD, he had a council of smart men get together and come up with a formal declaration about God. Notice that this man-called Pope called together smart men, but not men of Christ's original church, to come up with who God was. Talk about man creating God in their own image! (See Jeffrey R. Holland's talk from April 2014 General Conference) With that, a declaration came out about who God was, and the concept of Trinity - or the three-in-one and everywhere but nowhere concept of God that many Christian churches have today - was born. The idea of Trinity did not come from the scriptures or from a prophet of God. It came forth from an unbaptized man who claimed himself to be Pope and his council of smart men. That sounds promising, huh? This creed was called the Nicean Creed or the Creed of Athanasius. 

If you have never read this creed, then please do so, and ask God for yourself if this is a creed of man or of God. This creed is still up in many, many churches today. 

So many people ask me out here, "You are sincere, but do you even know where your faith comes from? Do you know God?" Yes, I do. I study God's word every day for three hours. I am constantly praying and reading and pondering. Every time someone asks me this question I want to shake them haha. But of course, I don't because I KNOW WHO GOD IS!! I KNOW MY SAVIOR!! Do you? Where does your faith come from? Just as people tell me to study history and the scriptures out for myself, I am. I did just yesterday, and look what I found? The truth. 

Anyway, the Nicean Creed is not written like scripture, which scripture is written to help us come closer to God and His Son, Jesus Christ. There is an odd quote from it where after making the claim that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are all just a mass of togetherness and power, they say this: "For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity; to acknowledge every Person [capitalized to mean every member of the Godhead] by himself to be God and Lord; so we are forbidden by the Catholick Religion: to say, There be three Gods, or three Lords." 

Later, good people protested against different doctrines, such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wickliffe. John Wickliffe brought forth the Bible in English to the common people. Protestant churches have that name because they protested against practices of that time. The Church of England came about through Henry VIII, who supported the pope and was nicknamed the "Defender of the Faith." He was excommunicated from the Catholic church because he wanted a divorce from his wife to marry a maid and created his own church called the Church of England. Sadly, from then on and even in times before all the new churches who claimed to follow Christ did so through violent means and claimed to be doing things in Christ's name, even though Christ's church preached turning the other cheek and loving your enemies.

So, now, hundreds of other churches are here on Earth. People kept protesting and over and over churches broke off of churches and formed their own to help make their church more like Christ's. This led to an increased emphasis on religious freedom over the years. And where everyone in these break-off churches of Catholicism came from, they innocently inherited a state of apostasy, or incorrect doctrine. Many people accepted these concepts of God, the Holy Ghost, Jesus Christ, baptism, forgiveness of sins, etc.  and tried their best to follow Christ with what they had.

"There are sects named from circumstances of their origin - as the Church of England; others after their famous founders or promoters - as Lutheran, Calvinist, Wesleyen; some are known by peculiarities of doctrine or plan of administration - as Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Congregationalist; but down to the third decade of the nineteenth century there was no church on earth affirming name or title as the Church of Jesus Christ. The only organization called a church existing at that time and venturing to assert claim to authority by succession was the Catholic church, which for centuries had been apostate and wholly bereft of divine authority or recognition. If the "mother church" be without a valid priesthood, and devoid of spiritual power, how can her offspring derive from her the right to officiate in the things of God? Who would dare to affirm that man can originate a priesthood which God is bound to honor and acknowledge?" (Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage, Ch. 40, p. 752...all historical references are also from ch. 40 of Jesus the Christ, to credit the author)

So, a Restoration, not a Reformation, was needed. And I know that that was made possible through Joseph Smith, who lived in New York in a fairly new country called the United States of America that also incidentally held religious freedom as one of its most sacred freedoms. And Joseph Smith wanted to know which of all these churches was true. So he followed counsel in the Bible in James 1:5 and asked God, because he lacked wisdom. And God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith and told him none of the churches on the Earth were Christ's church that He had established, but that Joseph would be called as a prophet to re-establish Christ's church for the last time before Christ comes again. 

We have evidence of this Restoration through the Book of Mormon, which also testifies of Jesus Christ. It is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of America. It gives us solid proof of what Christ's doctrine is because it was only translated once from ancient Egyptian to English. It was given to everyone as soon as it was published to help people truly know from the Bible and Book of Mormon that Jesus is the Christ and that He is the Son of God; that God loves His children all over the world, not just in Jerusalem and lands round about the Middle East; that God has always called prophets and always will; and that Joseph Smith truly was called as a prophet of God to restore Christ's church to Earth once again (see intro to the Book of Mormon). We can know if it is true or not by reading it, pondering it, and sincerely asking God - the source of all truth - in the name of Christ if it is true (see Moroni 10:3-5). We know that where Christ is, Satan cannot be, so we know that when we pray to our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ, the answers we receive will be from God. And those answers come from the Holy Ghost, who is God's messenger. The Holy Ghost works in feelings and thoughts. He works from the inside-out, not the other way around. Men work from the outside-in. 

That's my story. And my testimony. 

More than my testimony, the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ has become a part of who I am. I know this is true, all of it, because God told me so through the Spirit, and God is a God of truth. Just like Enos, I know that "God cannot lie." I wanted to share this with you so you can know that I have a testimony of these things. I KNOW it. I don't just have a wishy-washy "belief." I know Christ lives. I know He is our Savior and Mediator and Advocate. I know by following Him, He will lead us back to our Heavenly Father. I know all Heavenly Father wants for us is to be happy, learn and grow to become like Him, and live with Him again. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latte-Day Saints is truly Christ's church in its fullness back on the Earth today.

And if you are curious or annoyed or angry at this claim, then why don't you come and see for yourself? Try it out, ask God, read the Book of Mormon. We don't have all the answers, but we have enough to inspire faith. 

So yes. Haha pretty long, but hope you received some type of insight like I did. I am trying to stay positive and upbeat and am praying Sis. Ngawharau will heal and get better quickly or I will go CRAZY sitting inside all day haha. It is hard to sit inside all day. Really really hard. It has made me realize how grateful I am for a healthy body and for the opportunity to work hard. 

I love you all! Have a good week and remember that God loves you :) Remember the reason for the season! #sharethegift

Love,

Sister Kolee Decker

P.S. I go home in exactly 3 months from Wednesday.

December 11 - I know Christ is our Savior!!

Hi from Vacaville!!

Shout out to my family for the packages and letters. Thank you so much!! We have our little Christmas tree up with decorations :)

Also, shout out to Dad - happy birthday!! Sending you a card today - sorry it will get there late, but I am so grateful you are my dad :) This week especially I just see how much you have done for me and am so thankful for your example of hard work and dedication.

So last week and this week were AWESOME.

We did service for the Festival of Trees on Saturday - it is this totally nonprofit organization that donates all the proceeds to the homeless shelter called Opportunity House, this shelter is unique because they don't just shelter the homeless, they focus on helping families down on their luck find jobs, get educated, and become contributing members of society. We helped set up and decorate all these beautiful Christmas trees! I'll send pictures!!

Monday evening we decided that we wanted our week to be the best week of our mission, so Tuesday we worked suuuuper hard and went on splits from 7-9 that evening. Not only did we get two members to come, but had Kelsey Andrews, a recently returned missionary, bring our investigator, Destiny! Destiny LOVED it. She is basically already a member and she hasn't even been baptized yet haha. Her baptism is in less than 2 weeks - on December 20th. She shared the neatest thing with us the other day. She told us that when she first started meeting with the missionaries, Sis. Nickolette told her about the temple in Oakland. She was curious about it, so she Googled the temple and the first picture that popped up was a wedding picture of a couple kissing outside the temple. She said she felt this overwhelming pull to it and the thought, "You HAVE to go there." This is what has helped her balance her doubts. Also, we left her with a quote from Dieter F. Uchtdorf: "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith." Her family felt good about her venture into the church at first, but now that her baptism is approaching and they realize she is committing to it, her family is becoming less supportive and her grandmother even shared some anti-Mormon material with her.

Interesting how if there is truth, then Satan will work even harder to keep people from it! What I love about Destiny is that she still feels great about her baptism. We asked how she is feeling and she said, "I feel great about it. December 20th is perfect. I want to do it for Christ before Christmas." She is so amazing :) We also taught about the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity and were a little nervous, but she is totally fine and already lives them! She is so ready for this :) I am so grateful and privileged to teach her the Gospel and see God's hand working in her life. Keep her in her prayers that she will be protected from the adversary!

We also got Desire to come with us on splits, and she is a recent convert in the ward. She absolutely loved it! We had two amazing lessons with our investigators Janae and Dulce about the new Christmas video "He is the Gift" and ended up sharing the Restoration with one of them - Dulce. Dulce and Arely both accepted the invitation to be baptized and we are excited to help them start progressing.

As a Sister Training Leader, I go on exchanges during the transfer with the sister I am over. I had a wonderful exchange with one sister, Sister Majors. We had a pretty intense experience. We were waiting to exchange back Tuesday evening and decided to tract (knock) a few doors. The 1st door we knocked was this sharp-looking middle aged man. He seemed super excited to talk and pulled seats up onto his porch. As soon as we sat down, the Spirit put this thought into my mind: "You need to leave." I looked over at Sis. Majors but she was just smiling at him, so we started talking. Turns out he is a Born-Again Christian. Nothing against the religion, but it was a pretty sad experience.

This man first told us we were wrong. In every sense. That God and Christ are the same. He said "You're at the top of the ladder balanced in between two buildings, and you have decided to move the ladder to the wrong building." My heart burned within me and God let me know right there that this is true. That Christ is God's Son. That this is TRUE.

I wanted so badly to keep the Spirit with me for comfort so I just said to him, "With all due respect sir, I am not lost. I may be young and like you said, 'truly sincere,' but I do know and can testify in Christ's name I know this is true with all my heart. I do not appreciate a fellow Christian like yourself trying to force me to believe something I know is not true. Thank you very much for your time." Sister Majors added her simple but powerful testimony and we got up to leave. He got this look of annoyance on his face but when we said good bye we could tell he felt rather dumb for trying to pull our religion down. Interesting how many different churches, including nondenominational Christian churches, Baptist, Jehovah's Witness, Catholic, Born-Again Christians, etc. lash out specifically against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It strengthens my testimony of this Church's truthfulness and divinity because it fulfills all the prophecies Christ gave that His true Church and His followers "shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved" (St. Mark 13:13). Not only that, but we are the only Church on the Earth whose organization is like Christ's original organization. And more importantly than walking where Jesus walked, we strive to walk as Jesus walked.

I have never gone to a service in our Church where we bashed on another religion, because Christ never taught us to be contentious. In the Book of Mormon Christ actually tells us, "The spirit of contention is of the devil" (3 Nephi 11:29). And if we are all trying to follow Christ, why pull others down? Christ himself said in Mark 9:38-39: "And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not is: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me." Moral of the story: be kind. I am here to preach the Gospel of Christ, not bash with people about conflicting beliefs.

It just makes sense. A friend of mine once emailed me and said, "If anything else, this doctrine just feels right. Nothing else even makes nearly as much sense as this does." He also said, "Our church may not have all the answers to all the questions, but it does have enough answers to inspire faith."

I want each of you to know that I have a testimony of this Gospel. I know it is true. I am grateful that as a mission, all the missionaries have been reading the 4 Gospels in the New Testament together because it has strengthened my testimony that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is truly Christ's Church on Earth again before His 2nd Coming. I love the scriptures and know that the Bible is the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. I also know the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. I know Joseph Smith saw our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and restored Christ's pure Gospel to the Earth again. I know that this Restored Gospel blesses families in every aspect. I know the temple is a house of God, and am so grateful I was able to go earlier today in the pouring rain :) I know Jesus is my Savior and He is the Son of God. I know God and Jesus have two separate bodies but are one in purpose. Why would we even have bodies if God was a spirit who could shift forms? God put us here to experience life and make choices to help us become more like Him. If He was a Spirit or was two or three Personages at once, then so would we be. But we are not. "Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness...So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (Genesis 1:26-27). If God were just a spirit, what would be the point of receiving a body?

To become like Him? No, not if He is just a spirit. But God has a body. It says so in Genesis, and prophets of old saw Christ and Heavenly Father as well (Exodus 33:11, Ether 3:6-16). Satan rebelled against God's plan and because of that never received a body. If we were not here and if we were not Resurrected through Christ our Savior and His gift He gave us of His life, we would go back to being spirits forever and be like Satan - disembodied and miserable. But because of Christ, we have overcome the Fall - we will all be resurrected and receive our bodies back, perfect and glorified like Christ's and Heavenly Father's. And if we follow His Son, His Son will lead us to our Father and we will be forgiven of our sins and enter into the rest of our Lord. I know this without a shadow of a doubt.

Matthew 10:39: "He that findeth his life shall lose it: but he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." I have given up my will to Christ's and have found myself. I know who I am and I am God's and Christ's. I love Them and am grateful for them. For those of you who might not have seen the Christmas video "He is the Gift" yet, check it out on christmas.mormon.org, YouTube, or Facebook with the hashtag #sharethegift.

One more cool story: last Sunday was fast and testimony meeting, and guess who got up to bear his testimony? Alex!! He is the less-active member who has been struggling so much since I have been here but is now doing so so so much better! He wrote it down and bore the sweetest, most sincere testimony of missionary work, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and God's love. Then right after, his older YSA age brother, Will, bore his testimony!! I ended up bawling haha. It was so amazing to see their progression from no testimony to a simple, powerful one that they wanted to share in front of the congregation.  :)

I had interviews with President and Sister Alba last Thursday and they went super well. I will miss them so much. They are like my mom and dad away from home and I have so much respect and love for them. They both told me thank you for my example and it just warmed my heart :)

I'll end with some funny stories from the past couple of weeks:

1. Sister Ngawharau calls the trunk of the car the "boot." I have been trying so hard not to say boot. The other day, she asked where her scriptures were. I replied, "Oh, you left them in the boot." Noooo!!

Haha I am turning into a Kiwi. Oh well.

2. Kelsey Andrews funny story:

-She went to look for a volleyball for FHE -Opened the door and Devan, a member, was standing the dark hallway.  She hit him with the door.

-She was sooo surprised to see him she yelled sooooo loud and slammed the door.

-All we heard was a soft, "Ow" from Devan haha

That sister has some strong lungs haha. Louuuuud scream, too.

Sis. N and I get along wonderfully! She is amazing and hilarious and so much fun to be companions with. She has such a sweet testimony of the Gospel and I love learning from her example every day. Pray we'll be able to get her tummy situation figured out. Her stomach has been in pain on and off the past 3 weeks, and she gets results for tests back tomorrow.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week and remember that God loves you!

If you have any doubts, remember Destiny: "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith."

Love,

Sister Kolee Decker

P.S. I got pretty sick yesterday and Tuesday from getting my Flu shot for the mission this year...bleh. I feel much better now, though! Yay!

P.P.S. Christmas is only 14 days away!

December 1st - 15 month mark!

Dear family and friends,

Kia ora!! Vacaville YSA is going great! We had 3 investigators at church on Sunday! Hooray!!

Okay. Weird. On Thursday this week I hit my 15-month mark! I am so old  haha. It is odd to now be one of the old missionaries - I feel like I  just came out! I am stoked for a second Christmas in the field - there

is nothing like serving Christ full-time two Christmases in a row :)

This week was really, really great. It was super humbling - I love being a trainer; I learn so much from Sister Ngawharau every day! This week she taught me that we need to focus better on helping our

investigators to truly progress. We had a great weekly planning and mainly focused on daily contact with all our investigators!

On the down side, our whole zone got sick this week! It was rough...I ended up catching a prety bad cold/fever Saturday, but Airborned it up and am feeling much better now.

I am becoming a Kiwi. Woot woot. I have started accidentally slipping into what I think sounds a New Zealand accent but Sis. Ngawharau always catches me and says, "You sound like a Britain." Haha I sure

love her.  Sis. Ngawharau is getting so much better at contacting and at teaching! We taught an incredible lesson to our recent convert Harrison and she taught so simply and powerfully. She is an incredible

missionary - I learn so much from her humble example!

This week I gave a talk in church about the Restoration and I learned SO much from it! It helped me understand more about why there is opposition in all things. I love 2 Nephi 2 where it talks about it:

"Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other" (vs. 16). More and more out here I

realize how beautiful and amazing the gift of agency is - and how incredible that Joseph Smith chose to act and follow through on his action. Sis. N and I were also asked to give the third hour combined lesson on Home Teaching and Visiting Teaching, so we did, but focused on the "why" in a more spiritual manner. We talked about the worth of every soul using D&C 18:10 and showed "The Butterfly Circus," then asked how it applied to doing our teaching and fellowshipping. The Spirit was so strong in the lesson :) I have never felt so strongly about the divinity of home and visit teaching - we truly are God's hands here on Earth, and home and visiting teaching proves God's love.

Exchanges this week were HUMBLING. I went with Sis. Rodriguez, and she knows her people well even after just two weeks. She did an incredible job leading out the area, and is a wonderful example of following the Spirit. She is so amazing.

Great scripture I found going over MLC notes: D&C 101:16 "Be still and know that I am God." So good.

Sis. Ngawharau's first Thanksgiving was a very unconventional one! We ate with our Bishop, but his wife wasn't feeling well enough to cook, so they took us to Hometown Buffet for dinner haha. It wasn't too bad, and the experience ended up being amazing - we met an inactive member from Dixon, an inactive member from Vacaville, and two solid potential investigators! We also were able to help a homeless man get some dinner. :)

Funny story of the week:

We went to help this super old, tiny lady named Dolores carry her food to her car and she said, "Oh I parked at Marshall's." That was about1/4 mile away from where we were haha. So we walked over there then she yells, "Darn! I actually parked outside the restaurant." Hahaha so we walked all the way back and helped her climb into her HUGE truck with her food. She ended up giving us her address and told us to come by and share more.

When we went by, we met her husband Raymond. He started telling us a

story: "When I was young, my dad always ate my butt out for not working hard enough. Then when I started working, my boss ate my butt out for not working smart enough. Then I got married, and my wife started eating my butt out for messing everything up. So now I have no butt!" He turned around and he had absolutely no bum hahaha.

Anyways, I love you all! The church is true and God loves you :)

Love,

Sister Kolee Decker

P.S. Pics: thanks Mom for the Thanksgiving package!! And thank you Mom, Dad, Camel, and Kristen Parker for the letters! :)

November 24 - Sister Ngawharau...try to pronounce it haha + Happy Thanksgiving

Dear family and friends,

Happy birthday to Bryce, Keri, and Alexandria!!!

Hi! So heads up: we are not going to have p.day next week until Wednesday, so no letter until then!

I don't have much time, so I am just gonna send my letter I wrote President Alba this week :)

Dear President Alba,

Ah man! My whole email I just wrote to you deleted!! Okay, round 2.

Kia ora!! This week was good!

Sister Ngawharau got sick from Wednesday-Saturday (and very sick Wednesday and Thursday night) but got on some antibiotics to fight an infection the doctor found in her intestines. The food is hard on her stomach, but I am trying to eat healthy and have our dinner's feed us fresher food so her stomach settles a bit.

She is doing AWESOME!! She is an amazing teacher and teaches with simplicity and clarity. She has such a sweet, simple testimony, too.  She gets pretty nervous before lessons and contacting, but once she starts, she does great. We get along very well, too. We are ALWAYS laughing and having fun together - the ward also told us Sunday that they love these new "scripture of the night" texts we have been sending out to investigators, less-active members, and active members.

We set a new date for Destiny for December 20th. Her family has been going through so many medical problems lately! Her sister, her mom, and her grandpa all were in the hospital the past 3 weeks and things are finally cooling down enough for us to start solidly teaching her again. Sister Nickolette bought her a set of scriptures and Destiny has been carrying them everywhere :) Her YSA brother is also interested in learning more, now!

We have been receiving many referrals lately, too, and had a "ward blitz" on Wednesday that helped us set up appointments with inactive members we hadn't met before. The work is picking up here in Vacaville! We are trying our hardest to reach the high expectations every day and I feel so happy :)

I love this work!! I know it is true.

Sister Ngawharau led out the area on exchanges this week and did great! Her and Sister Rodriguez were on bike and they had a blast!

Sister Majors and I had a good time, too. We laughed a lot, which was good. Sister Majors was pretty hard on hereelf sonwe set some goals and made plans to help her overcome the negative and think more positively. But she is truly amazing and I love her very much! She is a wonderful sister and servant of the Lord.

I love you President Alba! Thank you for MLC - it was wonderful this week. I learned SO much from both you and Elder Nielson. Thank you for your time and love! Have a happy Thanksgiving!

I love you all! Have a happy week!!! Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,

Sister Nikole Decker