April 14 - Staying in St. Helena

****To see the most recent pictures from Sister Decker, click on the "St. Helena Photos" tab****

Dear family and friends,

I received news that I am staying in St. Helena for another 6 weeks follow-up training Sis. Petersen!  I'm excited, especially because the work is slowly but surely speeding up in St. Helena.

I realize how important member-referrals are to successful missionary work.  One of the main reasons why the work is so slow for the English sisters (us) is because though the members are willing to come out with us to lessons for investigators we've found through our own efforts, they do not invite their nonmember friends to hear the Gospel.  We need the members' help!  It's hard to do all the finding.  As full-time missionaries, we're full-time teachers.  As members, we all covenanted to take upon us the name of Christ, which means being a full-time finder.  Find those who are ready to receive the message of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.  OYM!! (open your mouth)

So!

This week we met with Teresa Cervantes, who has a baptismal date for May 24th.  She's going strong!  She brought up some concerns about her family (her husband Jose and her daughter Nayeli) not getting baptized with her, but the woman in our branch fellowshipping her, Sister Baker, helped her to see what a great example she will be and that her family will follow her example.  Teresa when we left said, "You know, maybe it won't be a problem.  It'd be great to be a good example to them."  It's been really cool to see how the Gospel is already changing her and her family.  She is pretty sassy, and she still is her sassy self, but it's a more quiet, dignified sass...if that's possible haha.  Sister Petersen and I love her so much!  We are so excited for her :)  We're teaching her the Plan of Salvation when we meet with her a couple times this upcoming week - I think she'll just eat it all up.  She's already in 2 Nephi 7 after only 4 weeks of reading in the Book of Mormon, and is really understanding and comprehending it well!

We drove way out to Pope Valley on Saturday and had a MIRACLE happen!!  We were attempting to find this house for a referral the Hermanas gave us and started talking to a woman named Cassandra.  As it turns out, she is an inactive member of the branch!  She went less-active when she was 16 years old, and her mom is a member in our branch, Sis. Chaffin.  Cassandra came back to church last year about 4 times, but she said that "no one could answer my questions."  She doubts the priesthood and doubts Joseph Smith's translations of the Bible (especially Abraham and Moses).  It was really...cool, for lack of a better word, to see how listening, discerning, teaching basic doctrine, and testifying confounds the people who think they know it all.  She kept saying that our Church is a "church of man," and yet she was seeking answers from MEN and WOMEN in the Church.  She has never sought her own spiritual answers.  We found out that really, her concern is that she has never read the Book of Mormon.  We asked her, "Well, have you ever read the Book of Mormon?"  She went off about how wrong it is and how we shouldn't add to the Bible and such and such, and Sister Petersen simply asked again, "Have you ever read it?"  She replied sheepishly that she has not.  Then Sister Petersen said to her, "I know that the Book of Mormon is true.  There is no point in us coming and talking with you until you read the Book of Mormon yourself and pray to know it is true."  We introduced the Book of Mormon to her and then I bore my testimony.  We read 2 Nephi 29:8-10 with her:

"8 Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word?  Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another?  Wherefore, I speak the same words unto nation like unto another.  And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.
9 And I do this that I may prove utno many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure.  And because that I have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from the time henceforth and forever.
10 Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written."

After that, she said to us, "Okay, I will read it."  She asked us to look into the validity of Joseph Smith's translations of Abraham and Moses.  But you know, the longer I am out here on a mission, the more I realize that when you have a solid testimony of the Book of Mormon, your testimony of the First Vision, Joseph Smith, priesthood authority, and Jesus Christ strengthens tenfold.  My testimony is unbreakable.  I do not care what anyone says - when people try to tell me the Book of Mormon is not true, I feel the Spirit burn within me and make my heart pump fast and the thought whispers in my head, "The Book of Mormon is true" over and over and over.  I know without a shadow of a doubt the Book of Mormon is true.  I want to shout it out to everyone, and we are trying to talk with everyone we see about this Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and the beautiful proof that it is true, the Book of Mormon.

Each morning when I study from Preach My Gospel and the Book of Mormon, my heart grows fuller and my spirit feels lighter.  If it were not true, I am sure I wouldn't feel that way.  But it IS true.  I am so grateful for that knowledge.

Sister Petersen is doing so well - she is improving more and more each day and helps me to tighten the screws and work a little harder every day.

Alright, I'll end with some funny/cool/random stories:

1. This lady named Sis. Nielsen is a sassy, feisty less-active member who lives at the veterans' home.  She came to church one day and we were so excited!  In the middle of a talk, she yells out, "Turn your mike on!"  We talked with her after and found out why she doesn't like to come to church - she's almost completely deaf.

2. This old guy at the vet's home always tells us this one story of when he was at church.  The pastor asked, "What song would you like to sing?"  He answered, "Rock of Ages!"  And didn't realize it was an actual hymn.  Then when they would sing, "Rock of ages," he yelled, "THROW IT THROUGH THE WINDOW!"  I didn't get it until I realized he was talking about a rock...he was cracking up with his big toothless grin haha.  What a fella. 

3. An awesome lady in our branch, Sis. Lisa Morgan, always feeds us on Wednesdays.  This week, we started talking about where she used to live in Brooklyn, New York.  She pointed at a picture of her old apartment and says all calm, "Yeah, one night a guy tried to climb through our window.  It wasn't very cool."  Then just turns the page to the next picture like it's no big deal.  Haha Sis. Morgan is hilarious and awesome.  All 4 of us St. Helena sisters absolutely love her to pieces.

4. Sis. Petersen and I went contacting down St. Helena's main street on Friday night and these two men were sitting in front of this store on a bench, so we started talking with them.  One of them stands up and then I realized from the stench and from his swaying that he is slobbering drunk.  The other less-drunk friend got up and put his arm around his dead-drunk friend to keep him from falling over and they started asking us questions about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I bore a simple, sincere testimony about the Book of Mormon and the slobbering drunk guy looks at me, puts out his hand, and pats my head!  He did this multiple times during our 5-minute chat.  At the end of the chat, we were saying good bye and the wasted man COMPLETELY ENVELOPS ME in this sloppy embrace.  Awk.  Then, his less-drunk friend pulled both Sis. Petersen and I into a group hug...whew.  Don't drink!  It makes you look like an idiot, and makes you hug poor innocent sister missionaries.

5. The other day we were about to get in our car and I saw this pretty yellow and black butterfly on the ground.  I stooped down and put my hand out.  This butterfly walked right onto my hand and sat there for a minute, flapping its wings, then flew away.  It was majestic.  Call me the butterfly whisperer.

I love you fambam and friends!  Hope you have a wonderful week :)

Love,

Sister Kolee Decker

P.S.

Oh, I forgot!  Both my mission "mom" Sister De Rurange and my mission "dad" Sister Zenger are "dying" (going home) tomorrow!  I will be an orphan.  It's alright.  I've got my daughter haha.

April 7 - Miracles in 'Merica

Dear family and friends,

Hi from St. Helena Guess what?! I had an awesome week. But really.

AWESOME. We started teaching 5 new people!!! Jennifer Carrillo (11), Seamus Gilushenan (25), Todd Lanelli (63), Luis Hernandez (21), and Christian Guiterrez (21).

Cool story about Luis: we initially contacted him two weeks ago. We decided to walk all the way out to a former investigator's house (Ray Rader's) and see how he was doing. He was home but had to leave pretty quick to pick up a friend, so we didn't teach him a lesson or anything. We were kind of bummed, and started walking back through the trailer park we were in. Walking along the road we witnessed a sketchy drug-exchange with two Latino teenagers. One was in a white car, the other was handing him a bag with some drugs in it. I felt prompted to intervene, and Sis. Petersen followed right behind me. I went up to the two guys and asked how their night was going. They said fine and looked kind of antsy. I looked at the boy in the car and said , "Your body is a temple. You know that, right? You can do so much better than what you hold in your hand." The boy just shrugged me off. We left them both with a card and got the boy in the car's number, but nothing else came out of it. Haha it was super awkward and Sis. Petersen was saying, "Sketch." over and over when we walked away, but I followed the prompting!

THEN, a miracle happened! This week we contacted into him again while we were trying to contact our referral, Seamus. We reached the complex Seamus lives at and saw three boys standing smoking in the parking lot of the complex, so Sis. Petersen and I walked back and started talking with them. Their names were Seamus (our referral!!), Luis, and Christian. We said a prayer with them and before asked what they need in their lives. The boy who introduced himself as Luis said he needed more motivation to live and move forward. So we said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father for those things. It went quiet after the prayer, and they all were very reverent and said thank you.

Right then we ended up teaching them about God being our loving Heavenly Father and invited them to be baptized! They all said yes, and we have return appointments with each of them.

When we were talking with Seamus, Seamus admitted to us, "I need help.  I'll just come out and say it: I'm high right now. But I have a wife and 3 kids and I need to stop doing things like this. I need help." We were able to tell him about the ARP (addiction recovery program) in Napa on Thursdays and he is going to come this Thursday! We're also teaching him and his wife tonight :) Then I said to him the same thing I'd said to the boy in the car-drug-exchange: "Your body is a temple."

Luis was listening - he LIT UP and said, "No way! You're the girls I talked to a couple weeks ago! I was in the car, remember?" He proceeded to tell us that he has been having a really hard life. He has depression and doesn't have much family support. He's been stuck for the past few years. He told us that that night he had been crying and when we met him, he was going to overdose on the drugs he bought and kill himself. But when I said, "your body is a temple. You can do so much better" he felt something stir inside. He told me that those words repeated over and over in his head, and he didn't go through with it. We're teaching him again on Wednesday.

Wow. I am so thankful for the Holy Ghost guiding us to help save lives. Literally. I am so excited to meet with each of them and help them taste the sweetness and peace the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ brings. I am also so thankful that things don't work out sometimes because there is a bigger plan. We were bummed we didn't get to teach Ray, but that night we ended up saving someone's life and now we're going to teach that same person. God is amazing! I don't know how He does it, but He just does. He sure loves His children. I see that more and more.

And General Conference was SO great! My favorite talks were a tie between three (can there be a tie between three? Who knows.): Robert D. Hales' on obedience, Jeffrey R. Holland's on the cost of discipleship, and Dieter F. Uchtdorf's on gratitude. It is so inspired that we meet together in the middle of the week for ward activities, once a week for the Sacrament and church, every few months for stake conference, every 6 months for a General Conference...it's so needed!  We need to constantly be "nourished by the good word of God" (Moroni 6). I think there's a reason why there's not an exact number of times we meet together - we simply need to meet together oft!

Sis. Petersen is doing wonderful - she gets better and better at being a servant of Jesus Christ and being an incredible teacher. We're teaching almost 50/50 in every lesson we teach now. Also, she's been correcting me in areas where I'm slacking...I love it though! She really is helping me to push myself to be better, and I am grateful for her "greenie fire."

Funny quote from Sis. Petersen this week. We were about to visit a potential investigator named Ian on Grant St., and Sis. Petersen says enthusiastically, "Ian on Grant here we come! Jesus wants you for a sunbeam!" Haha I love her enthusiasm and positive attitude for the work. The work really is hastening here in St. Helena.

So I also had another funny experience. We call our branch president every night to report our day of missionary work in the area and I heard his voicemail hahaha. Here it is:

Jon's chicken is cooking in the pot.

Biscuits are ready and piping hot.

So hold on a minute and pull my knot.

I'll call you back later if your number I've got.

It was epic. So happy I heard that lovely voicemail this week haha.

I'm going to send pictures of our hike we took this morning for Pday to Linda Falls! It's in Angwin, a 20-minute drive from Calistoga and St. Helena. It was so pretty! I live in paradise. It is gorgeous here.  I am so blessed to be here :)

Keep choosing the right! Remember that even though man's laws may change, God's laws stay the same. Where is your faith tied? To God, or man? I know this Church truly is Jesus Christ's church back on the Earth today and I know that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet in these last days before Jesus Christ comes again. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I also know that there is so much to live for! Don't give up, don't give up, don't give up! Someone knows exactly how you feel - Jesus Christ. He lived, died, and lives again for YOU.

Have a wonderful week, and remember that I love you :)

Love,

Sister Nikole Decker

P.S. I tried pickled beets this week...yeah. They weren't the best. My breath tasted like vinegar and something rotten for a whole day no matter how many times I brushed my teeth. It was rough.

Picture: Linda Falls! They're actually much taller than they look in the picture haha...weird angle.

March 31 - General Conference is This Weekend - Woohoo!

Dear Family and friends,

Hello! How was your week? I hope it went well :) I had an amazing week up here in St. Helena! It's been raining for almost a week straight and I've LOVED it!

I am pumped for General Conference this coming weekend! For all of you who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints:

watch it! For all of you who are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: watch it! It's on lds.org and BYUtv, as well as a myriad of other places, including the local LDS church buildings. I invite you all to listen! It is amazing to listen to these inspired men. I promise if you go into General Conference with a question in your mind, that question will be answered. No matter what the question is. Take the challenge and watch living prophets! :)

So. For my week!!

Sis. Petersen is basically a BOSS. She invited 4 people to be baptized on the street. Yup. She is an amazing missionary! But really. I feel like she's training me! She's helping me to be more humble and patient

:) I love it. I love her!

We have been working so hard to be exactly obedient. The Lord has been blessing us for trying to be exactly obedient. My faith is being built so much! Last week we were running late. We have been trying to be exactly obedient, so we ran down the street to be back at our apartment by 9pm. We only had 17 contacts, but we had faith God would put at least 3 more people in our path. We ended up talking with 6 more people AND we were home right at 9.

On Friday, we were contacting and had to finish weekly planning, but only had 19 contacts. Sis. Petersen said, "I wonder where we should go to talk to at least one more person." And then right in front of us, a lady got out of her car! We were able to talk to her and another person or two.

Sis. Petersen and I have also been teaching basically 50/50 because we've been going "back to basics:" teaching, testifying, inviting.

It's been interesting, though, because even though we're striving to be obedient, we ended up dropping an investigator. I think it's for the best though. We dropped Jim Kelleher - he just wasn't keeping commitments and wasn't willing to do so to strengthen his faith. It makes me sad when people use their agency to deny themselves blessings, but maybe in the future he will be ready.

Okay - here is the highlight of my week: I was able to understand a lesson in SPANISH on Wednesday. The Hermanas (Hermana Kaiser and Hermana Nimmer) teach an English class Wednesday evenings, and we help with it. They had a former investigator, Miguel, show up and we invited him to Roberto's baptism (which was also the highlight of my week, too....it was a great week). He asked what baptism was, and I felt prompted to show him the picture of Jesus Christ being baptized from the Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet, so I did and explained what baptism is, why we do it, how God has asked us to do it. It was amazing, because then the Hermanas chimed in, and turned into a talk about baptism and then a full blown member-present lesson (Bro. Mutz comes to learn Spanish, too) with a former investigator of the Hermanas. It all started with following a prompting - then turned into a lesson about the Restoration and Jesus Christ establishing His church. It was AMAZING. They were able to resolve some concerns he had and invited him to be baptized on the 28th of June. And the coolest

part: I UNDERSTOOD EVERY WORD!!! And it was all in Spanish!! I had the gift of listening to tongues...if that's such a gift. It was so neat.

It made me feel so happy that I could understand what was going on and was able to chip in a little bit with my broken Spanish. Maybe I'll get switched to being a Hermana...psych. That would make me FREAK OUT.

Understanding Spanish is one thing haha. Speaking it is entirely different. It really was a great experience, though.

I wanted to end with a funny thing Sis. Petersen told me the other day. I asked, "if you could only say one phrase for the rest of your life, what would you say?" She said: "The struggle is real." Haha it made me chuckle because there are just so many things that you can say, and yet she chose that one. She is so sweet - I love her so much and am so grateful to be her companion!

I'll really end now with two jokes this man at the veteran's home always tells us (and I mean always - I've talked to him 4 times and he tells us these 2 jokes each time)

Why didn't the skeleton cross the road?

Because he had no guts!

Have you heard of Tarzan? Do you know how he died?

Somebody greased the rope!

Ha and then this old, sweet toothless guy bursts out laughing and it makes us die laughing because he's laughing so hard...oh good times at the veteran's home :)

I hope you have the most marvelous week! I love you all so very much!

Oh and guess what? God loves you :)

Love always,

Sister Nikole Decker

P.S. I hit my 7-month mark on April 4th, so this coming Friday.

Madness. I don't ever want to leave! I love it here.

March 24 - My Finger Is Going to Fall Off

Mar. 24, 2014

Dear family and friends,

I have decided I have a low pain tolerance this week.  I used to think I had a high pain tolerance...and then I got a hang nail.  It's a little guy on my ring finger on my right hand and it kind of has a heart beat in it.  I've been trying not to complain about it but I realized that I am a WIMP with pain haha.

Besides that, I discovered another fruit I love: mangoes!  But specifically, mangoes with blueberries and honeydew.  A member made a fruit salad with those fruits and it was soooo good!  Oh man I just love fruit.  Before I came out here, I would rather have a vegetable than a fruit.  But now, I am converted to fruit before vegetables.  It's partially because I am also always really thirsty, and fruits are much more thirst-quenching than vegetables.

I had a great dream this week about that Thai place in Arizona (my close family will know what I'm talking about): I was eating that sticky rice with mango and custard on top.  Yum.  Then I woke up and I wasn't eating it, and it was sad.  But it's alright!

I apologize in advance, because I forgot my camera again, so no pictures.  BUT, the vineyards here are looking GORGEOUS - the spring time is doing this valley wonders!  Everything is bright green, and the vines are starting to have green growing on them again.

As for my week!

Yesterday after church in St. Helena, we headed over to Yountville for Sacrament Meeting at the Vet's home. After church there we taught Jim Kelleher, who's working towards April 26th for his baptism. We were introducing the Book of Mormon to him and he stopped us as we were flipping through the pictures. He saw the one with Moroni burying the gold plates and said, "Wow, I'd sure like to know what is on those plates!" Then Sis. Petersen and I both closed our Books of Mormon and showed him the cover and said, "This book is what is written on those plates."

The Spirit was soo strong and he got so stoked to read the Book of Mormon! We also read Ether 12:27 and Moroni 10:3-5 with him and he loved those verses. He is doing so well! We are going to call him every day this week and remind him to read and pray. He is such a sweet old man, and it is so amazing to be able to see him growing his relationship with the Savior and with his Heavenly Father. He has a few phrases that are so funny: "Alrighty!" and "Okey-dokey." With his Boston accent, it's always fun talking with him.

This week I felt pretty great, but Sister Petersen was struggling. We had a great companionship inventory on Friday and were able to talk through some things. She has been feeling like ever since we taught this man Paul (who was very nice to us when we met him but ended up just wanting to bash) Satan has been trying to get her down. We talked a lot about the importance of keeping the faith, and also of not letting our minds be idle. As we've just gotten out and served, she has been doing much better. It's in the quiet moments when I think she's struggling - the drives and such. We decided we need to tell stories and listen to hymns and keep ourselves focused out, not in. I love that about Jesus Christ - no matter what He went through, He always focused Himself out on others. It reminds me of a talk given by Elder Bednar called "The Character of Christ." I totally feel for her because I struggled last transfer when I came out - it's easy to turn in here, but that's not why we're here!  We're here to turn out and to serve others, especially the Lord, but bring them closer to Him.

Cool thing about this week: we hit our 20 contacts every day (as a mission of "high expectations", we are supposed to talk to at least 20 new people every day - we call them contacts because it's someone new that we contacted)!  Sister Petersen is doing wonderful with contacting! She isn't afraid to talk to people. Now we're working on making our contacts turn into return appointments :)

Also, we're doing great with teaching 50/50. Yesterday during Jim Kelleher's lesson, we were going back and forth so naturally and really involving Jim in the lesson - asking inspired questions, testifying boldly - it was so neat to see how far Sister Petersen has progressed since she first came out. She's a fire pistol! I love her very much, and am so grateful she is my companion.

Being out here on a mission, and especially after that one week where I "bashed" with someone on the street, I realize how much more like Christ we can all be, particularly myself. It's been neat as I've been able to be filled with charity instead of annoyance or anger. I hope I can continue to improve. Lately I've really been working on developing patience and diligence, especially in St. Helena because this is an area where I feel patience and diligence is very important.

Many of the people are pretty proud, but there are so many good people here as well. We meet really neat people every day that just make me smile and be happy to be serving the Lord :)

I'm sorry I don't have any super crazy stories this week.  I'm sure I will next week, though.  Stay tuned for more...

I love you all!  Choose the right this week, and remember that God loves you more than you can every imagine! 

Love always,

Sister Kolee Decker

March 17 - I COME HOME IN 365 DAYS

Dear family and friends,

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!  So craziness.  I was looking at my ministerial certificate and had this weird lightbulb moment.  My ministerial certificate expires on March 17, 2015.  And today is March 17, 2014.  I come home in exactly 1 year, or 365 days, from today.  So odd.  Time goes by super fast yet slow out here.  It made me have a minor freakout and I decided maybe I just won't come home...haha totally kidding, but for realsies...I love it out here!  I get to talk to people I never would have talked to some of the people I have out here - it's made me realize how judgmental I was before (and still can be now).

But I'm getting better every day!  Okay.  I have a funny joke to tell you all.  This 11-year-old kid in the branch I serve in named Mason told it to me yesterday at dinner:

Why do missionaries have to have such large bladders?

They only get 1 "pee"-day a week.

Haha corny...I thought it was clever, though!

Sister Petersen is just getting better and better at contacting, teaching, finding, being filled with faith - the whole nine yards!  I love being a "mom" haha.  It's just fun to help someone get the hang of things.

This week we set a solid baptismal date with our investigator, Jim, and are working really hard with him to help him reach that date. We are so close to setting a date with this sweet family of two - Teresa and Nielli Cervantes. We are also trying to get the husband of Teresa, Jose, to sit in the lessons with us. We invited Teresa and Nielli to be baptized on Thursday - Nielli said she didn't want to at first, but Teresa said of course! Then the neatest thing happened - Teresa explained to her daughter baptism! And then she said, "it's when YOU know it's true. It doesn't need to be tomorrow! Just when you know it's true." Then Nielli agreed, too!

We also felt prompted to go by a former investigator's house, Paul Woof. He told us he definitely wants to meet with us again! We're going by Thursday at 3pm!

Also, we had the neatest contacting experience on Saturday night - we were walking and almost passed by this guy, but we decided we'd better talk to him. Turns out, a loooong time ago missionaries came and taught him, but he was really young and unsure. He was so excited to see and talk with us, and we ended up giving him a Book of Mormon and inviting him to be baptized right on the street! He said yes - it was neat because he spoke broken English and mostly Spanish. We Spanglished our way through the contact but it definitely proved to me WE don't do the teaching - the Holy Ghost does. Also, I felt prompted to put a Spanish Book of Mormon in my bag that morning, and he told us he wanted one but couldn't read English! And I had followed the prompting, so I had one in Spanish to give to him. It was so amazing :)

We had a few funny moments this week I wanted to end with:

So, during Sacrament Meeting yesterday at the vet's home, Sis. Petersen was trying to point someone out to me. She whispered, "That guy - the bald one." I look around, and EVERYONE in the congregation is bald haha. In a room full of veterans, describing them as the bald one doesn't do much to point them out. It was funny.

We had a day where we taught two Jim's, tried a potential named Jim, and asked a man named Jim to give a blessing to one of the sick veterans (Jack Brannan, a recent convert of about a year and a half now). We ended up singing a song to the tune of "Old McDonald Had a Farm" but it went like this: "St. Helena sisters had a teaching pool. E-I-E-I-O. And in that pool they had some Jims. E-I-E-I-O. There's a Jim Jim here and a Jim Jim there, here a Jim, there a Jim, everywhere a Jim Jim. St. Helena Sister had a teaching pool. E-I-E-I-O!"

And finally, Sis. Petersen kept feeling anxious while we were driving down the freeway because of a cop following her. After a while she said, "I bet it's vineyard security." I laughed and said, "No way. Is that even a thing?" We reached St. Helena and turned left, and the "cop" passed us...but the cop really was a "vineyard security" car! We said, "It IS a thing!" Haha it made us crack up. Only in good ole' Napa Valley would something like that happen.

I love it out here.  It's the best.  I love being a missionary.  I know this church truly is Jesus Christ's church back on the Earth.  I know the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.  I love my Savior and Redeemer, and I know He lives.  I love all of you!  Have the best week EVER!!

Love,

Sister Nikole Decker :)

P.S. Sister Petersen always says "The struggle is real" whenever she has a difficult time parking or putting on her shoes or anything like that haha.  It cracks me up.  Also, whenever anything super cool or great happens, she just says, "Wow.  That's celestial."  She's a keeper haha.

March 10 - My first week training

Dear family and friends,

Guess what?!  I begat a child this week (my new greenie came in!).  It's been craziness, but so far so good!

Monday night Hermana Kaiser, Sister Harston, and I drove to Santa Rosa and dropped Hermana Chavez off - she "died" (aka her 18 months were up) so we wore all black that day haha.  Then Sister Harston, Hermana Kaiser, and I were in a trio for Monday evening and half of Tuesday.

We headed back down to Santa Rosa Tuesday evening - Hermana Kaiser and I are training, so we were able to meet all the new missionaries and go to a devotional with them.  We dropped Sister Harston off at another companionship's dinner before the devotional and dinner and ended up sleeping at the Funk's house that night, a senior couple who did my laundry when I served in the Redwood YSA ward!  That was fun :)  Sis. Funk and I caught up a bit and she made us these BOMB German pancakes the next morning.

Then Wednesday came!  It was psycho.  We had to be at training at 8:45 that morning.  I didn't realize this, but after training, the APs and President and Sister Alba go into Pres. Alba's office and pray and talk about the trainers and the new missionaries, and that's where they decide who is training who.

So then the trainers and the greenies got called into a room together and we sang a few hymns and had a little pump-up devotional...and then I found out who I'm training!  Disclaimer: Sis. Harston, my last companion, called that I was going to be with a Sister Petersen (there were 2 Sis. Petersen's that came in this transfer).  And guess who I'm with?!  Sister Petersen haha.  She was right!  I am so excited!  Her name is Devin Petersen.  She turned 19 the 26th of February while still in the MTC, so she is BARELY 19!  She graduated in 2013 and is from St. George, UT.  One of her good friends, Elder Morley, is in the mission and we found out at zone meeting Friday that he is also in our zone!  So that's been fun for her :)

Hmm, what else about her?  She's basically amazing.  She invited Jim Kelleher, one of our investigators, to be baptized yesterday!  She is a bold greenie.  And I just love the greenie fire!  She's definitely helping me to step up and out of my own comfort zone.  She is also doing great at contacting.  The first time we went contacting, though, (Thursday) was not good haha.

I BIBLE BASHED!!  Nooooooooo!!!!  It was not a good example.  The Spirit left and we both just felt so icky inside.  Then we walked back to our car and sat inside for about 20 minutes singing hymns and reading scriptures until we could feel it again.  It's so true that the spirit of contention is of the devil (3 Nephi 11:29), because I definitely felt the Spirit of God leave me when I was getting upset.  I don't really need to talk about the man we bashed with...he was the meanest man I've met thus far on my mission though haha and he called us delusional and corrupt and a whole bunch of other really mean names...I repented though, and I've been praying to feel more charity for people.

It was such a good lesson for both of us to learn.  I've never "bashed" with someone before (it's frowned upon - it's basically just throwing Bible verses back and forth at each other to prove the other person wrong, and that's not what I'm out here to do, so it was not good), and I realized that for the first time in 6 months, I didn't have the Spirit with me in the mission field.  It felt all sorts of wrong.  But what's so amazing about repentance is that we can get the Holy Ghost right back when we strive to have it with us and are doing the things we need to to feel its influence. 

The next day, because of that,  Sister Petersen and I made a "vision board" with what we wanted to accomplish, and I'm so excited for this transfer together!  Our vision statement: "Lead like Christ."  I really want Sis. Petersen to feel comfortable in the area, and to feel confident in her abilities so that she could train a new missionary next transfer, if she had to.  She is already rocking it out here in St. Helena!  I am so impressed by all the new missionaries who came in.  They all seemed so mature and ready to roll :)

Sister Petersen and I are also teaching really great together.  We're definitely feeling united as a companionship and it feels great!  She has a POWERFUL testimony of prayer and of the Atonement.  We've had a couple of member lessons, and with the two of us and the Spirit teaching, we were able to get 7 referrals in 2 lessons!  That's pretty solid :)  We're excited to contact all of them this week.

I feel super overwhelmed and tired right now, to tell you the truth, but I think it's because I don't really know how to "train" a new missionary haha.  I do trust that God knows I can do this, and that Sister Petersen and I will do amazing things together.

Sister Petersen is seriously so amazing - I'm so privileged to be her companion!  She has such a sincere desire to serve and is more than willing to work hard and be exactly obedient.  I can't wait for what this week has to offer for the two of us!

Cool story from this week:

We were teaching a recent convert (Jack Brannan, 87 years old) at the veteran's home yesterday, and he told us that he had a stroke earlier that week!  It was hard for him to talk and I could tell the stroke definitely did some damage :/  We asked him if he needed a blessing and he said yes.  The leader over Sacrament Meeting at the vet's home - Bro. Graham - gave him a POWERFUL blessing and said that "tonight you will rest in peace - the hurt will go away."  I felt this feeling that Bro. Brannan was going to pass away soon, but I have never felt so calm in my life.  I am so grateful to know about the Plan of Salvation and that I know where I go after this life.  I don't know if he will pass away anytime this week or the next, but I do feel at peace with whatever does happen. 

Funny stories from this week:

The first night Sis. Petersen came to St. Helena, it started pouring buckets while we were inside a lesson.  Sis. Petersen ran to the car to unlock it and I was walking because of all the puddles.  All of a sudden her feet slipped up from under her and she goes "SMACK!" and lands right on her bum in a puddle haha.  THEN promptly after that I sat down in the car and the phone slipped off my lap into the gutter-river and I had to run down the street after it...needless to say, the phone is dead.  We got a new one on Saturday, though, so all is well!

Yesterday while contacting Sis. Petersen and I talked to these odd, interesting fellows named Clay and Sasha.  At the end of our conversation, Clay, a 20-something-year-old, said, "Group hug!" and tried to hug Sis. Petersen and I.  Sis. Petersen made the WEIRDEST sound I've ever heard (almost like a half-scream, half-throw up sound)  and jumped back.  Haha the guy was so confused!!  It was great.

Well fambam, life is good.  I am feeling really happy and excited for the weeks to come - I love being with a new missionary.  I'm supposed to be the one training, but Sis. Petersen is training ME!  She is just helping me to be better, and I love it :)

I hope you're doing well, and remember that you are a son or daughter of God!

Love from Napa Valley,

Sister Kolee Decker

March 3 - I AM TRAINING. BAH.

Dear family and friends,

Craziness is happening.  Transfers are this Wednesday and I got a call from Sis. Alba (the mission president's wife) on Friday and she told me that I will be training a new missionary this coming transfer.  WHAT?!  I am super nervous, but really excited!  I don't have a clue what I should do or how I am supposed to train somebody, but I'll pray for the Spirit to guide me.  

It's funny though because in the mission field, if a sister trains, then she is a "mom" and the sister she trains is her "daughter."  So Sister De Rurange is my mission Mom, and my 2nd companion, Sister Zenger, is my mission Dad.  So I am becoming a mom come Wednesday!  I am with CHILD.  Craziness.  I will miss Sister Harston - she has taught me how to be humble and submissive, and also how to find humor in the little things.  

Also, our apartment mates - Hermanas Chavez and Kaiser - are experiencing changes too.  Hermana Chavez goes home tonight!  Her mission is complete :)  And Hermana Kaiser is training, too, so there'll be two greenies in good ole' St. Helena.

Pray I won't make my new missionary companion cry and go home.  Because I don't know what's going on.  Oh goodness.  

As for some highlights this week: Wednesday.  It was POURING rain.  I found out that my rain coat is not very effective at keeping the rain out.  We were running low on our allotted miles on our car, so we decided to stay in Calistoga and walk to see people.  WHEW.  I don't think I have ever been so wet in my entire life!  My shoes I wore that day barely dried haha.

Also, we are teaching this awesome family - Teresa and Nielli, her 12-year-old daughter.  Teresa's husband isn't interested, but last Thursday when we went over to their home to teach them and her husband fed us this delicious pork.  It was soooo good.  And Nielli is going to come to Young Women's this Tuesday!  

I'm out of time so I have to go - sorry this week's accountings is so short - we have to drop Hermana Chavez off in Santa Rosa and somehow finish all of our other Pday tasks.  I love you all so much - have a wonderful week!  The book is blue, the church is true, and God loves you :)

Love,

Sister Nikole Decker

P.S. Justin: I just remembered when we won that free shrub from Moon Valley nurseries - good times :)

P.P.S. Bryce: I'm proud of you for keeping the Sabbath Day holy!  You'll be blessed for it!  Lots of love!!