Monday, December 30, 2013

Life at the MTC

From December 24th:
Alright, to start from the beginning, I received the "Greenie" package and all the letters.  The MTC is great and I have an awesome teacher and a wonderful district; we all get along very well.   We even have an Elder Straddling from Mesa, Arizona. Everyone one in my district is going to Nampa, Idaho.

My companion is from Boulder City, Nevada which is a city right outside of Las Vegas.  She is very friendly.

I am singing in the choir today and it will be broadcast and might be on BYU channel.

 We are all getting immunizations on January 2nd.  We already have an elder who has been isolated from everyone because he has influenza, yeah, not fun for him.

I don't need anything from home, but I will need to get different boots.  The weather here is freezing, but I am starting to adjust to it.

Well that's all I can think of for the moment.

Love you!

Sister Donner

From December 25th:

Merry Christmas!  We got an extra day to mail.  I know you won't see this till later but I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  I also wanted to tell Dad "Happy Birthday" and sorry for not sending a card, it's been kind of hectic.  We are going to listen to an apostle today and have a lot of fun programs so it will be awesome.
I hope you all have a great day!

Love you so very much!
Sister Donner

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Idaho Nampa Mission...MTC here she comes!

Sister Nicolette Donner was picked up from the Arizona Tempe Mission on December 11th at 7:50 in the evening.  Prior to leaving she opened her mission papers and found that she will be serving in the Idaho Nampa Mission for the next 15 months.

She took her first plane ride along with several other elders from the Sky harbor Airport this morning.

This is a picture of Sister Donner at the SLC Airport on her way to the MTC.  Her cousin Chelsie was an angel and came to meet her at the SLC airport to make sure she had a smooth transition to the shuttle that would take her to the MTC.
(She also took the photo)
She will be at the MTC from December 18th to January 7th.

(We pray her new mission president will take pity on her and not require that she ride a bike.)

We are so excited for her!

Monday, December 9, 2013

Okay, so we had one investigator come to church Sunday, so that was great.  The new companion, which creates our threesome, is Sister Lamm.  She is awesome and very, very animated.
My favorite part about last week had to be biking with all three of us, it was funny.  Oh...and also eating a bit slice of cheesecake.

My least favorite part of last week was getting sick twice...YUCK!

My companions and I put up a Christmas tree last night and then talked.

I will be coming back from Yuma on Wednesday with President and Sister Toon after zone conference.  It's kind of hectic, but everything has been great!

I'll see you soon!

Love you!!!!!!!
Sister Donner

Monday, December 2, 2013

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was good.  We had two meals and both were great!

My companion and I are doing awesome.  We throw things and tease one another all the time.

My favorite part of last week was scaring my zone leader, Elder Nelson, and my lease favorite part was waking up with a sore throat today.

I have literally been running around trying to see people.  I am in a trio now until Wednesday, so I have to wake up at 4 am to leave with a bunch of Elders.

Regarding my bike, we took off the back brakes and the back tire is bent, but no worries because I am in a car now until transfers, so yeah, that 's fun.

I am not sure when I will be released, so yeah; I think the mission office will let you know.

Well, I'll see you soon!

Love,
Sister Donner

P.S.
(We just received word that Nicki will be coming back to Tempe on the 11th and entering an MTC on the 18th, still no word where.)

Monday, November 25, 2013

Oh the Joy of Biking

Last week was interesting.  I had gotten four flat tires in just three days, so today we are shopping for food and inner tubes for my bike.  I have a huge bruise, the size of a baseball, on the side of my left leg where the bike attacked me, again!  We only have half a p-day today since Thursday is Thanksgiving, so I will not be writing letters this week.  We have two dinner appointments for Thanksgiving.

Missionary work is going well; it's really starting to pick up.  We have three investigators, Anna Evans who is a character, Claudia who I told you about last week and we are still trying to see, and Ozzie, a referral the Elders originally gave us, and he is on date to be baptized.

My favorite part about last week was, lol, well it really wasn't such a good week thanks to my tire going flat all the time.  One good thing for last week is I made my birthday cake and my companion sprayed me with silly string.  The zone leaders, along with the elders that live with them, helped eat my birthday cake.  Thank you to everyone who sent me a birthday card, I really enjoyed receiving them!

My least favorite part about last week, besides by tire going flat, was riding in the rain.  It was cold, but I'm starting to get used to it.  I'm not using the coat, just using my sweaters instead.

Guess what?  They had me and my companion and our district leader do a survey on mini missions.  Apparently I have been talked about a lot and it's peaked some peoples interest.  I should be getting a call today from President Toone to find out what's going to happen.  He kind of thinks that Thursday night after Thanksgiving is when I will leave.  Anyways, I hope to see everyone soon.

Love,
Sister Donner

Monday, November 18, 2013

Birthday

I got the package!  I started laughing when I pulled out the birthday crown.  Lol  The whole zone sang "Happy Birthday" to me Sunday night.  From the pictures you sent it looks like Bri enjoyed our birthday.

My favorite part of last week was helping one of the relief society sister, Sister Holmes, make Christmas cards.   Glitter was everywhere!  Lol

Yes, I had more bike adventures this week.  I almost flew off my bike yesterday.  It's a long story and needless to say, I caught myself and didn't fall.  I swear someone is watching over me.

The picture is from the day we had interviews with the Mission President.  My trainer is the one on the right of me, Sister Flint.  A funny thing she did to me this week is I had gone to the bathroom.  When I came out, I had to turn the corner and there she was with a rolled up sheet of graph paper and scared me half to death.  She thought it was hilarious.

Well, today is prep day, so we will do the usual shopping, laundry and writing letters.  We may make my cake today, not sure yet.  We may or may not teach one of our investigators, Claudia.

You ask what my favorite part of my mission has been and the answer is All Of It!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Love you,

Sister Donner

P.S.  Thanks for the chocolate; I have eaten all of it!




Thursday, November 14, 2013

Sister Nicki Donner in Yuma

Ok, explaining the picture, it goes me, Sister Flint, Hermana Manwell, Hermana Drake, Hermana Rich, Hermana Ashby, Hermana Blanca (White), Hermana Hansen and Herman Day.  All the sisters in Yuma.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Love Mail!

I received everyone's letters this week and the new "Preach My Gospel" book.  I have nine letters to write today. LOL

We had interviews with Pres. Toone, first as a companionship and then separately for a minute.  He said he should be talking with the missionary department soon and they will notify him to let him know if and when papers will be arriving.

We are going further south in Yuma today for a zone activity which usually means volleyball or basketball.

We are still riding bikes and we usually sing now, but to answer your question, no, no car.  (Wishful thinking. LOL)

This past week has been great!  First, receiving all the letters from everyone, they make my day!  Then, we got two referrals yesterday and we taught a family on Friday.  The ward is super nice and always willing to come with us for lessons.  I have learned so much out here, more that I did in my last area.  I actually don't want to go home yet, even though I miss you guys like crazy.

It's weird to think I will be turning "20" this Sunday.

Hope everyone has a great week and Brianna I hope you have an awesome day on your birthday!

Love Sister Donner

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Life Goes On :)

My companion study is awesome!  My favorite thing about my companion is she doesn't judge and likes to tease.  In personal study I am studying the Ten Commandments.

My district is great and really fun.  My favorite part of last week was Friday and Sunday.  Friday was a planning day, so we met together to plan and then we had language class.  We had lunch in-between and we just pushed all the tables together, it was nice.  Sunday we had dinner at a member's house and after dinner they played a game of trying to guess our first names.  It was really funny and they actually guessed my name.  That evening we taught a less active member about the restoration.  (We usually eat dinner at a members house most nights, but some nights we don't.)

I actually don't get an iPad because I am a mini missionary. (Sad Face) At first I was bummed, but then I decided I'll just buy one when I complete my whole mission.

I haven't gotten any letters, and I'm pretty sure the address is correct.  (Side note:  Called mission home and the zip code was incorrect, so the mailing address should be correct now)

We are teaching a person today, but not sure on the baptism, it depends on what happens tonight.

I actually have 3 new scars.  One word, bike.  It absolutely hates me, especially when we do down the huge hill by our apartment each day.

Gotta go now...

Monday, October 28, 2013

YUMA

Yuma!  A member drove us to Yuma and yes, it was long.  OK, so the minute we get to Yuma I was told we had a baptism on Saturday and another one is set for November 9th.  Richard Nunes was baptized and he has two little kids who are adorable.  We are also teaching a mom and daughter and another lady who is writing a member's son in jail.  So Yeah, it's crazy.

Packing everything was easy, though I think I may leave some stuff at home, I mean when I get home.

The apartment complex where I live is pretty nice. We have bunk beds and I am on top.  I think it will be OK to send packages here.

Sister Flint is my new companion and she is awesome and really observant.  She is from Syracuse, Utah.  We live with two other sisters and we all get along really well.  Sister Rich is hysterical and they are all really sweet and very friendly.  Each companionship serves in a different ward.  The bishop of our ward is on board with missionary work and the members are pretty involved.

My district is really funny, you should have seen our planning meeting on Friday, LOL.  We had the meeting at the church, so we brought our lunches with us and the other sister companionship had M&M's.  The elders were sitting at a different table, so she went over and said, "M&M's" and they started jumping out of their chairs, knocking each other down trying to get them.  It was funny.

Without a doubt, my bike hates me!  It keeps crashing on me and it got a flat tire on Saturday.  When my bike is on corners, it doesn't like stopping or it stops too quickly so I almost fly off.  I now have to bike up a huge hill to get back to my apartment and yeah, my legs kill after that.  To top it all of, we are navigating with a map...not good.

We don't get to do anything for Halloween except training on iPad's; we get them tomorrow and yet, we are excited!

Gotta go, my time on the computer is about to expire.

Have a great week!


Monday, October 21, 2013

1st Transfer

I am going to be transferred this Wednesday.  I don't know where I am going, only that I will be on a bike again, so yep, more scars for me. (LOL)  I'm not worried for the transfer, just sad I am leaving this zone.  We've become pretty close these past few weeks, so this transfer is a bit hard on me, but I'm doing OK.  When you are getting transferred you don't usually stay in the same zone, but we'll see.

I should be fine packing, just have to figure our how to pack my bedding.  (LOL)

We had kind of a rough week.  One of the elders in my district went home early due to some medical problems and it was heart breaking.

I did get a package from Aunt Kim, but not from Aunt Lorene, bummer.  Please tell them thank you!  I did receive letters, I just haven't had a change to write back yet.

The 8 and 11 year old children we teach came to church this past Sunday.

I'm finally going to get my hair cut today, yay! A sister from the ward is going to do it; she is amazing!

Oh, yeah, OK, concerning going to the MTC, uh, can you just drop me off?  I've heard too many stories of people getting lost at the airport and missing the bus, or not finding their bags, no buena.

My favorite moment this week would have to be seeing our zone leaders twice in the same area we were in and also teaching someone with them on the street.  The zone leaders have the YSA ward, so they proselyte in the same area we do.  My companion and I had just been out trying to contact a former investigator and while rounding a corner we see our zone leaders talking to a lady, so we walk towards them.  As we were approaching  them, we hear Elder Oblad say, "Oh, here come some amazing sisters that you can talk to. (LOL) So with the zone leader's right beside us, we talk to her about prayer and actually said a prayer with her and the zone leaders.  It was funny, but awesome.

I gotta go now.  I'll send you a letter this week and hopefully I'll know where I'm going.

Love ya!



Monday, October 14, 2013

Love the Temple!

We are back in our apartment and no, I haven't used the toilet that overflowed since the incident happened LOL.  Living with the other sisters for a few days was pretty fun, I just couldn't get to sleep on time because they were still talking.

Right now i'ts a love hate relationship with the car.  I love it because we can carry things when we get groceries at the store and it gets us to places.  I hate it because of having to keep everything documented and the navigating.

How sad that i didn't get Aunt Lorene's package and letter.  I think they have got everything straightened out hopefully, so you can send letters now.  I did get some letters this week and the package.  I'm sad to report that all the chocolate you sent is gone. LOL Thank you for sending the beany pillow and for "my blanket".  I started crying when I saw it.

I am planning on getting a haircut today.  I didn't do it last week because it was just a weird day with moving in with the sisters and doing some shopping.  We are going to carve pumpkins today for a zone activity.

I'm losing weight and my belt is slipping off.  LOL I believe a big part of the weight loss is because my companion is lactose intolerant.  I have not had sour cream, cheese, or eggs this whole time.  I absolutely love steak, green beans, broccoli, spinach, etc... except corn.  We eat dinners with the members every day.

We went to the temple on Wednesday.  It was awesome!  We did baptisms for the dead.

The mom of the 11 and 8 year old we are teaching had five death in her family this month, so yeah, it's been a little crazy.  We did however find a less active member yesterday.  She invited us in and we talked for an hour.

I've got to head out now...

Love ya!

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Loved Conference!

I absolutely loved conference.  My favorite talks were by Elder Dube and Elder Christopherson.
Our toilet flooded this morning.  I'm not entirely sure what happened, I flushed it and it started over flowing...it gave me a panic attack...I felt horrible.  So, we are moving out of our apartment for 3 days and staying with 4 other sister missionaries..this should be interesting. I didn't get any breakfast since the flood attack took place at 7:30am.  

We will spend the day doing laundry, grocery shopping, moving to our temporary place, getting my hair cut (at a salon) and eating dinner at a member's house.
I think I am going to cut my hair a little shorter, it's looking pretty bad...dead, and the blonde is definitely showing through. I'm not going to color my hair until I come home for those few days.

The sisters we are moving in with told me they have been receiving my letters, so they returned them.  I'm kinda bummed about that right now, I didn't receive any of your letters from last week.
I didn't get the box you sent either, but I will ask the district leaders.

District meetings are every week on Friday when we have a planning meeting.  Our district leaders owed us brownies (which were amazing!) because we talked to 178 people in one week.

We are only using the car for right now, no bike riding.

Companion study is going pretty good, I'm learning a lot.

We are teaching new member lesson to an eleven year old and a nine year old.

Please tell Grandma "Thank You"

Love ya,

Sis. Nicki Donner 

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Biking Days Over?

Hey, so we are in a car now because it's a new one and president wanted us to drive it, which means I have to help back it out. (Not one of my favorite things.)  It's kind of weird because I was used to riding my bike.  My hair definitely needs to be recolored and trimmed.  I'm going to follow the advice from Shelbye and not let anyone from the mission do my hair.  I'll just wait while I'm home for those few days.

We've had a great week!  We haven't had an opportunity to teach anyone yet, but surprisingly we found a potential investigator that we were unable to find before.  She has an interesting story.

Our district leaders are really sweet...they owe us brownies.

Four more people were called to be ward missionaries in our ward.  Our bishop was a teacher in the MTC, so yeah, he has a big push for missionary work.

I received letters and loved them!  Did Dad get the letter I sent him?

I absolutely loved Relief Society Conference, it was awesome!  I am so excited for conference this weekend.  We will watch it at the church.

For p-day we are going shopping of course.  We are going to probably buy a lot of items and use my debit card, so don't worry when money is pulled from my account.  I already did my laundry.

I've got some funny stories to tell.  Lol

Love you,
Have a great week!
Tell Bri I want her to write me and Dad, Scott and of course Cody.

Monday, September 23, 2013

All Is Well

Gotta Love Bike Riding
Everything is fine.  I decided to keep moving forward no matter what.
Brianna, thank you for encouraging me.
I got my package at Zone Conference...lol not the best because I cried.  Thank you for the skirt and shoes, they are nice.  Unfortunately, the skirt is hard to ride in on a bike.
I love Zone Conference and the meetings we have!
I am sleeping a lot better.
We are still contacting people, but not teaching anyone.  We are still trying to get the swing of things.
We have gotten lost a couple of times and yes, it does hurt riding a bike for hours on end.
Funny story of the week...I'm riding a bike now and knowing me with a bike and a skirt, I crashed.  But, not to worry.  I only have huge bruises on my legs.  Lol, I am also losing weight because of this.
On Friday of last week I got the stomach virus, so we had to come home early, but all is well.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Rough Week

Orientation was good.  I had to go proselyting when I first got here.  
This first week was interesting.  We went to a ward party.
I serve in the Kyrene ward.  The are nice and the bishop is amazing too.  We have dinner tonight with him.
My trainers name is Sis. Lathrop.  She is nice and is from Alaska.  Since I'm new and not from the MTC, it's a little harder to train me.
Hop you have a great week.
One more thing, can you send the pink beany pillow?  The bed here are killing my back and I have hardly been getting enough sleep.

Love,
Sister Nicki Donner

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Sister Donner and 36 other new missionaries!  Amazing!

Sister Donner with Pres. & Sis. Toone

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Departure Day!

Early Morning Departure Day 

Sister Nicki Donner was dropped off at the Arizona Tempe Mission this morning at 10 am.  On her trip there, she realized she had forgotten her watch.  We were very early and had extra time, so we thought we would just pop on over to a store and pick up a cheap watch until we could send her's to her.  Four stores later we discovered they just don't sell watches anymore.  It was a unique way to kill time before having to drop her off at the mission office.

The whole Tempe Mission office was so very nice and took time to speak with us for a short time until the rest of the new missionaries from the airport arrived.  There will be 37 new missionaries!  Wow!

We are excited for Nicki and can't wait to start posting her emails.