February 25 - Great week!

Dear family and friends,

Well, I had some good stuff written to you! but just as I was ending the computer shut down and I lost it all! Boo hoo. So, instead you get the letter I wrote to President Alba this week! I'll write more next week - love y'-all!

"Thank you so much for talking with me this week and giving me a blessing - I have been refocused, renewed, reenergized, and refreshed.  (I was feeling not worthy and it was really bringing me down...he came by and gave me a blessing then told me: "Sister Decker, you have been pronounced clean by your bishop and stake president, then went through the temple and were pronounced clean by the LORD. What right do you have, then, to say you are not?" I broke down crying and immediately felt peace and healing and love. I finally let the savior take it all away. I know the Atonement is so real).

This week we have been finding. A LOT. But it's been great! We picked up 3 new investigators this week! Nielli and Teresa, a 12-year-old daughter and her mom, and Jeff Cudeje, a 7th Day Adventist who is interesting in learning more about our church.

Teresa actually works at the veteran's home in Yountville but lives in St. Helena - the Spanish sisters contacted into her in St. Helena and recognized her, and Teresa wanted us to come over! We taught them the first half of the Restoration this week and are planning on finishing it on Thursday when we meet with them again. Nielli also wants to come to Mutual on Tuesday night! We're going to stay in contact with her and invite her to come.

We tracted into Jeff when we drove to Pope Valley this weekend and tried people out there. His wife, Maria, answered the door, and invited us in right away. It was a little warm that day so they gave us cold water and we said a prayer with them - we ended up also talking with them about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith! He has lots of random questions that are kind of hard. He says he calls Jesus "Jeshua" because that's the name He really would have gone by, since Jesus spoke Hebrew. He also went off and told us that the name "Jesus" is the Greek version (which I already knew from the Bible Dictionary and "Jesus the Christ") of Jeshua, and is a "pagan" name. The Greeks called Him Jesus because it was a break off of "Zeus." ...I wasn't convinced. Jeff didn't really cite his sources, and plus, I was thinking and studying about it this weekend. English comes from Greek and Latin roots, so naturally the English translation would not say "Jeshua." Also, it really doesn't matter the specific name we call Him - we can call Him Savior, Redeemer, Mediator, Creator, God of Abraham, Jesus Christ, Jeshua - when we truly KNOW Him, we don't need to worry about the nitty gritty things like Jesus versus Jeshua. I think that's what gets people so wrapped up and lost. I think of 2 Nephi 9:28: "When they are learned they think they are wise...supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not." What do you think, President Alba?

Jeff said something to us though that's been ringing with me this weekend: "The truth undergoes scrutiny." And I think of the Book of Mormon and how much scrutiny and picking apart it's gone through, and how it still stands true, and it helps reassure me that it IS true, that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet and that he restored the Church of Jesus Christ to the Earth once again, and that Jesus Christ truly is my Savior and Redeemer.

I've really been trying to understand the Isaiah chapters in 2 Nephi, and it's taken me a little bit to get through them, but I feel so much more enlightened - I pulled MUCH more out than I normally do when reading those chapters. I'm so grateful for Nephi.

I also feel CLEAN. President Alba, thank you so much for talking with me. It helped me realize that Satan really is trying to get at me, and I was letting him. But no more. And I also have been running harder in the morning - running really does help me to feel energetic and focused throughout the day. Sis. Harston and I also tightened our belts and are truly, truly striving to be exactly obedient in every way, and live this culture of high expectations.

Stake Conference was AMAZING! Saturday night on the way home, I read Sister Harston Alma 56-57 in the car, and something incredible stuck out to me that proved the Book of Mormon truly is written for our day.  It's in Alma 57:20-21 (excerpts of the two verses): "...behold, those two thousand and sixty were firm and undaunted. Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them." I had this realization and made an awesome parallel: they had 2,060. We have 260. They were firm and undaunted. We are firm and undaunted. They had success and beat the Lamanites because they "observed to perform every word of command with exactness." We have these hastening tools and are increasing in our success because we are the most obedient mission in the world. They were blessed according to their faith. As we pray for increased faith to find, we are seeing more miracles. They had that faith because of what their mothers had taught them. We would not be out here if it were not for the good example and teaching of our mothers.

Lightbulb.

Crazy, huh?!

I love the scriptures. My testimony of the Book of Mormon has increased so much this week, as well as my faith.

And the temple was so wonderful this week. I went in with a question that wasn't quite answered yet, but I just felt such peace, even more so than I have before. I know the temple is the house of God, and I want EVERYONE to be able to taste of the sweetness that comes by being worthy to go through the temple. We went through for our branch president's wife's family. She ended up being one of the workers in the session we went to! Sister Garate is her name. She was crying during the session and I was wondering why. Then while I was sitting in the Celestial Room, she came up to Sisters Kaiser, Chavez, Harston, and I and said that we were simply glowing, out of all the people in that room, and that she knew that they had accepted the Gospel and were present in that room. It was incredible - no wonder I felt so amazing!

I know this Gospel is true - I know it with all my heart. I love my Savior, and I am so grateful for Him. This week I finally got over this hill of regrets and doubts. I finally let the Savior take complete care of me. I gave it all to Him. And I feel so clean, and ready to go out and work even harder to bring my brothers and sisters back to Father.

I love you so much President Alba! I loved your talk yesterday in stake conference - especially about consecrating all of our time, energy, purpose, and even life to building up the kingdom of God. You are such a great example to me - you and Sister Alba together, too. I don't think I've ever seen anything so sweet as when you and Sister Alba met in the Celestial Room in the temple - I was sitting across the room and looked up just as you sat down. It brought tears to my eyes and I felt the Spirit testify to me that THAT is how a celestial marriage should be. Thank you."

Love you all! Remember that I love and pray for you often.

Love,

Sister Kolee Decker

February 17 - God answers prayers

Feb. 17, 2014

Dear family and friends,

Hello!  I'm sorry but I don't have much time today - since it's President's Day, we have to use a member's computer instead of the library, and the members have to head out soon.  I'm going to copy and paste what I wrote President Alba for this week:

This week felt slower than usual. Sister Harston and I worked just as hard, maybe even harder, but things just weren't working out. 

Things are going well, though. We ended up dropping this sweet lady, Radiyah Coffey...when we taught her the Book of Mormon, she refused to read it. She said she would never become a Mormon, and doesn't really like organized religions at all because of the "patriarchal order" of it all. It was sad.

But tender mercy of the Lord: after dinner that same day we dropped Radiyah, we picked up a family! Their names are Kathy and Nicoli Harbor, and they have a darling 3-year-old son named Arian. He is seriously the cutest. We knocked on their door (they were potentials we hadn't visited yet) and the husband, Nicoli, answered the door. He said hello and invited us in right away! We sat down and they started asking us so many questions about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. Right then and there we ended up sharing the first lesson with them! We recited the First Vision from memory like we were encouraged to do at zone conference, and the Spirit was definitely present. They accepted the invitation to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know it is true - we're going back on Thursday, this time with a young couple in the branch, Brother and Sister Roney. I can't wait! 

Sister Harston and I are both really just trying to stay positive and work hard. We pray in every prayer to have the increased faith to find the elect, to have Heavenly Father open the windows of heaven upon the California Santa Rosa mission and pour out blessings, to help us as a companionship and as individuals to make living high expectation our first priority, and to give Kathy, Nicoli, Ray, Jim, and Ed the desire to come to sacrament meeting and to be baptized. It's working :) We had a bit of an off-week, but we are doing our best to ensure we have at least 1 lesson every day, contact at least 20 new people every day, and extend a baptismal invitation. We definitely can do better extending baptismal invitations, especially in the street.

I have really been working on making my studies very sacred time, and have found so many amazing insights! I'm currently in 2 Nephi and for the first time, I am really starting to decipher and understand the "Isaiah" chapters! It's so amazing to see how Isaiah truly prophecied of the latter-days. There's a section in particular that talks about the proud being brought to humility at the last day that really stuck out to me. It's in 2 Nephi 12:11-12: "And it shall come to pass that the lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of Hosts soon cometh upon all nations, yea, upon every one; yea, upon the proud and lofty, and upon every one who is lifted up, and he shall be brought low." I couldn't help but think of the Napa Valley area we're serving in...there are so many people here who are simply so proud and lofty. 

There was another scripture in the Book of Mormon that I thought was so relevant for this area, too. 2 Nephi 9:28 (excerpt from it): "When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not." 

I feel like the missionaries in the Book of Mormon. I yearn and pray and desire for the people's hearts to be softened so I can invite them to come unto Christ. That's also been in my prayers often this week - praying for the people in the St. Helena area to have softened hearts. And I'll tell you what, President Alba! My testimony of prayer has grown more in the past week than it has in my entire lifetime! Instead of people turning us away before we even get a chance to speak, they have been more open and willing to talk with us. I noticed it especially on Valentine's Day, when people were filled with love. I think that's why Heavenly Father's first and great commandment is to love Him, and why His second is to love our neighbors. If we truly love our neighbors, we care for one another, and will listen and help uplift each other.

That was made manifest on Valentine's Day, but also in so many other ways. We talked to amazing people this week. We may not have gotten numbers or addresses from them, but my prayers are being answered: the people's hearts here in St. Helena are being softened. I see that with our branch members as well. They are trying to step up. It's been neat, to say the least.

I know this church truly is Jesus Christ's church back on the Earth once again, and I know that because I read the Book of Mormon and prayed to know if the Book of Mormon was true.  When I received a witness from the Holy Ghost telling me it is true, I then felt that Joseph Smith was a prophet, because He translate that book.  I also knew that Jesus Christ was real, because the Book of Mormon testifies of Jesus Christ, just as the Bible does.  It goes to prove that "by the mouths of two shall my gospel be made manifest" (

And thus, I knew that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was Jesus Christ's church back on the Earth, because Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and they told him that just as in times past, Joseph was being called as a prophet in these last days to restore the true Gospel back to the Earth once again.

I love you all and hope you had a marvelous week!

Love,

Sister Nikole Decker

P.S. Thanks to all who sent me a Valentine's Day card/gift :)  I loved them!

February 10 - Happy Valentine's Day

Feb. 10, 2014

Dear family and friends,

Happy Valentine's Day on Friday!  I hope you have a wonderful one.  Take time to remember to show your love to the Savior. 

I had QUITE the intense week.  It's been raining since Thursday!  Craziness.  Rain! I LOVE the rain! It's a little different being out and working hard to bring souls to Christ in it rather than watching it from the safety of my front porch, but I love it nonetheless :) And the fact that it rained for 4 days SOLID. The Napa Valley is looking GORGEOUS, especially the vineyards in St. Helena and the mountains of Angwin.

I don't think I've ever been somewhere that has had a solid stream of rain for days at a time.  I love it.  I love the puddles so much.  It's hard not to jump in them, but there are two things that stop me from doing it: 1. My feet will be wet all day long, and 2. I remember that I'm in a skirt and that I'm a missionary, so it probably wouldn't be appropriate to be jumping around in puddles.

OKAY!  I have a funny story for you, as well as a crazy story of something that went down Friday night.

Maybe I'll start with the serious story and lighten it up at the end.  Alright deal.  So here's the serious one, taken from my journal:
_________________________________________________________________

"We weekly planned all day and were feeling pretty squished and claustrophobic by the end. We have also been feeling a little flustered because the Spanish sisters are having a lot of success while we can't seem to get things going. It makes it harder that our branch members give us literally no support (except for Pres. and Sis. Garate and the Roney's). We felt alone in the work. But tonight we hit the realization that we are not alone - God is with us every step. He is guiding the work, and He won't leave us hanging.

So. After planning, we got onto Facebook. We were trying to focus and teach online at the library in Calistoga, but this Chinese man wanted to Bible bash with us and wouldn't leave us alone. We finally began talking with him and this other woman next to us got all sorts of upset we were talking religion in a public library and walked to the front. She asked the librarian for a set of behavioral rules of the library and proceeded to meticulously pore through the rules. It really bothered me for some reason. Then the Asian man slapped this weird magazine down and told us to read it. We didn't read it, but we flipped through to see what it was about...weird stuff, basically. There wasn't a single picture of Jesus Christ in this supposedly "Christian" magazine. We leaned over to the woman and apologized for disturbing her. She didn't even look us in the eyes - like we were worth NOTHING. She lifted a newspaper over her face and mumbled, "I'm just going to be reading this." She, to make her dislike even more obvious, turned her body away from us. It felt very disheartening and unnecessary. Then to make the evening even harder, no one in the branch signed up to feed us that day, so we drove home to our apartment and are dinner alone.

After dinner we drove to downtown Calistoga in the pouring rain and contacted on the streets. It was rainy and wet, so people were in a hurry to get from their cars to their restaurants or from their restaurants to their cars. No one was kind to us. Mostly, they ignored us or gave us some harsh reply. By this time we decided to drive to St, Helena and contact there for 20 minutes before we drove to the Garate's for a member-lesson.

The drive there was quiet, except for the sound of the rain and the windshield wipers doing their job, in those quiet moments tears came to my eyes and a few slipped out. Sis. Harston asked how I was feeling. I told her the truth - not so good. I felt alone, sad, upset, downtrodden, angry at how rudely people were treating us. Sis. Harston felt the same way.

St. Helena. We parked on a small side road and walked down Main Street to contact a few more people. There were 3 people standing outside of a bar, so we tried to say hello to them. The older man (we found out his name is Dennis), about 40, rudely remarked, "I'm Roman Catholic. Move on." And waved us forward. The other two, a young couple, replied, "I'm Atheist. I'm a Satanist." They were all 3 of them rude and improper as could be and began slamming on the Church and Mormonism. Dennis folded his arms and shrewdly inquired, "So. Tell me your little spiel." Sister Harston and I both tried to share the unique, sweet message the Gospel provides when he interrupted with, "Who forced you to come out here?"

That was it. I couldn't take it anymore. In the pouring rain, and soaked through and through by this point, tears poured down my face like the rain around us and I bore my testimony that regardless of their thoughts or opinions, I volunteered to come out here and leave my family, my friends, my home, my comfort zone, my familiarity, my schooling - EVERYTHING - because I know it is true. And people can be mean to me, and treat me like I am nothing, and I won't lie when I say it is hard. But I know it is true.

The 3 parties were dumbfounded. And embarrassed. The young man in the trio asked if I wanted to come inside out of the rain and have a beer. I declined. Then Dennis and the other two started asking us questions. And we preached the Gospel to them in the soaking, cold, windy, rainy night, all the while getting more and more wet while they stood underneath a dry awning. At one point Dennis looked at us both and said, "I am sorry for coming off so harshly. I want you to know that what you are doing is the Lord's work. Don't let anybody, including someone like me, tell you otherwise. Keep your heads up and keep going."

It was crazy, because I felt almost like God was speaking those words to Sister Harston and I through the man. It was just what we needed to hear.

A few minutes later into our conversation a young lady in her late twenties came outside to smoke. Her name was Adrianne, and she expressed sincere interest in the Church. At first she, like everyone else it seems, ripped us apart, but as we quietly but determinedly testified of the Restoration of the Gospel, her heart softened and she was asking all sorts of questions. We ended up teaching her the entire Restoration lesson on the street in front of a bar. At the end, she asked us for a Book of Mormon she could read - we ran back to the car and grabbed a dry one and gave it to her with our names and number inside. She said to us, "You know, I'm going to read this book and see if it's true." I don't know what's going to happen with Adrianne, but it proved to me that we we're supposed to be there at that time to talk with her.

Even though that was hard, my heart just burned within me as I bore my testimony. I felt like Jesus Christ. Rejected, tired, aching for people to listen and feel the soothing balm the Gospel brings. But I will NEVER lie and say I don't know this Gospel is true, because I know it for a fact. And even though people may try to tear me down, the more often it happens, the stronger and stronger I get. The more I know this is true. The more not just my testimony grows, but my conversion."
____________________________________________________________________

It was amazing, and hard, and scary.  But SO great.  That's just a taste of how hard a mission can be, but I love every single minute of it, good and bad, hard and easy!

And now for the funny story:
Something that happened last Sunday at Sacrament Meeting in the Veteran's home:
85+ year old men prepare, break, bless, and pass the Sacrament in the Veteran's home. It was a normal Sunday, and as usual Bro. Graham, the brother in charge of overseeing Sacrament Meeting in the Vet's Home, passed the Sacrament to the congregation after it was blessed and broken by two 90s-age priesthood holders. Our Relief Society president from the St. Helena branch, Sis. Baker, lives near the vet's home, so she was sitting in the congregation as well. The Sacrament gets passed to her and she exclaims in the silent room, "WHOA!" Then Bro. Graham passing the Sacrament whispers to her, "Sorry!" As the Sacrament gets passed to Sis. Harston and I, I found out why the exclamation. Those sweet veterans don't have very steady hold with their hands anymore and couldn't rip the bread into small pieces. Thus, we both took basically half a slice of bread for the Sacrament!

The exclamation and finding out what it was over was pretty comical, but I gained an amazing insight pondering afterwards. These veterans are incredible - the perfect example of enduring to the end. Even with feeble hands, aching backs, and shuffled walks, they continue to keep their covenants they made to The Lord and continue to fulfill their priesthood duties. I have so much respect for these men who fought for our country to keep its liberties and to defend the weak.

And that was my week! It was a refining week, but going through the refiner's fire hurts so good.

I hope you all have the most wonderful Valentine's Day!  Remember that I love all of you very much and pray for you often :)

Love always,

Sister Nikole Decker

P.S. Mom, Dad, Justin, and Bryce - you should invite Jessica Hardman and the rest of the Hardman family to the Gilbert Temple open house, if it's still going on!  Perfect, amazing missionary opportunity where they can see that they can be with their family forever :)

P.P.S. I am SO jealous of Dad and the boys for going skiing in Utah.  That sounds SO fun!!

February 3 - Rather Odd

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello from St. Helena! Cool story just to start: RAIN! The First Presidency
asked Northern California stakes to fast yesterday for rain, and lo and
behold: it POURED all day yesterday! It was amazing to me to see the power
of prayer and fasting made manifest right then and there.

I've had an odd week, to say the least.

For one, we help the Spanish sisters teach an English class once a week in
St. Helena. It is sooo fun! And I'm learning Spanish from living with them,
too (I also eat at least 2 quesadillas every day here with this spicy sauce
called Valentina that Sis. Chavez - who lives in the same apartment as Sis.
Harston and I - loves). Here's the embarrassing part of the story: so I was
called to preach the Gospel in English, and I realized that is definitely
for good reason. I was helping Elena, one of the students trying to learn
English, and kept saying after she said a phrase right in English, "very
good, very good!" I thought at least I was saying very good, but Iw as
saying "Mucho gusto, mucho gusto!" For all you Spanish speakers out there,
that actually means "Nice to meet you, nice to meet you!" Haha so this poor
sweet Mexican woman kept smiling at me all funny and I couldn't understand
why until I asked Sis. Chavez what mucho gusto means...I should have been
saying "Muy bien, Muy bien..." Oh well. Haha so that was pretty bad.

Then we received a text Friday night from this young man, Liam, who we are
teaching. We asked him during the lesson if we could text him scriptures
about Christ, since he is struggling to find faith in Him.
He agreed, and then when we left and he shook my hand he did a two-hand
clasp and shook it for a loooong time....yup. So we get his text and Liam
says, "Dear Sister Decker, you are really cute. I like you. Feel free to
text me all you want." NOOOOOOOOO!!! So now Sis.
Harston and I don't really know what to do...he is progressing, but it's
just weird now that he has a crush on me. It sounds silly, but it bugs me! I
am a servant of Jesus Christ, and I do not do ANYTHING that is not in
conduct with my calling to serve in the vineyard. It's just confusing when
this happens because now we aren't sure what to do to make sure he is
progressing because of his faith in Jesus Christ growing, not to please a
missionary.

To make this week even weirder, the next day, Saturday, I get on Facebook
and this guy had messaged me and said, "I would love to get baptized and
then get married to you so we can help each other grow our families." WHAT?!
So I can now say that yes, I have been proposed to on my mission. What an
odd week.

Here a lot of Latinos feed us, and we had the opportunity to go to a recent
convert family's house, the Garcia's, for a fiesta! I had the best tamales I
have ever tasted. And I also ate some not so yummy things that made me
grateful I'm serving in the United States haha.
First: atole. It's a drink made out of cornmeal that has different flavors
to it. A lot of people like it, but to me es no bueno haha. It basically
tasted like drinking a hot version of the impression goop orthodontists and
dentists put into trays and then push into your teeth - you know, the stuff
that makes everyone gag? Yup, that was basically it haha, but more grainy.
And I also tried grasshoppers!
They were ground up into smaller pieces and I didn't know what they were, so
I sprinkled some on my tamale. They basically just tasted super salty and
crunchy. Not too bad, even after they told me what it was I'd eaten! Then
there was the pasole....OH! Sooo good! It's this delicious soup with corn
and onions and a few other items in a tomato broth, but they simmer the meat
allll day and it just sits in this broth...yum.

I do love all the sweet Latino people here.

I've truly grown to appreciate the Mexican and Latin-American culture so
much in St. Helena. The people are all so kind and willing to give.
And they work HARD to provide for their families and give their children the
best of the best. I want to incorporate some of those values in my life. And
of course, for the most part, the food is fantastic!

The members don't feed us much here, so we really do eat quesadillas often
at home. There is also this cheap Mexican food place called Azteca Market
that's basically our 2nd home. It's also the only cheap place in all of
Calistoga and St. Helena to eat at haha. That and a Chinese food placed
called Soo Yuan. I'm surrounded by Mexican food!
No complaints, except I've gained 4 pounds....I just need to run harder in
the mornings haha.

We went on exchanges this week, and my STL (Sister Training Leader - the
sister equivalent of a zone leader), Sis. Kaiser, really helped to
remotivate me to work hard and talk with EVERYONE. She is such a good
example of being bold and giving every single person we see a chance to
accept the Gospel. She also talked with me about how to continue staying
positive, even though the work here is a bit slower and the people's hearts
aren't as soft.

I invite those of you who question if this church is true to take Elder
Ballard's challenge at the end of his book, "Our Search for
Happiness": "I often suggest to those who want to know if the church is true
that they spend a few hours working with our missionaries. It doesn't take
long to learn that no one can do all of the things a missionary does
everyday without knowing beyond any question that what they are doing is
right and true."

I promise that this Church is the true Church that teaches the Gospel taught
to Adam when he was first on Earth. I testify that Jesus Christ IS the Son
of God, and that He loves us so much. I know when we follow His example,
that's when we truly receive blessings, for "faith without works is dead"
(James 2:17). Choose the right, make good decisions, and remember I love
you!

Love you all! I am happy and things are looking up in St. Helena, despite my
weird week haha. I know this Church is true. Find out for yourself :) "The
saying goes that seeing is believing...but just the opposite is true:
believing IS seeing" (Bishop Pierce, Redwoods Ward).

Love,

Sister Kolee Decker

P.S. A big thank you to all who write me letters (especially Dad, Mom,
Justin, and Bryce who write me every week). I love and just pore over those
letters each week!