Nicole makes us laugh! October 16th email.

Hey everyone!

So I made it to my second P-day in the MTC...finished at least an entire week. It took FOREVER! This week took at least a month it seemed like...there is so much packed into so little time. But then to think that I'm leaving in like 2 weeks is so crazy (I know it still says December 7, but my zone leaders said I was leaving Oct 27, so we're going to the travel office on Monday to check on that) and it seems like I haven't been here at all. We've been trying to speak French, but it seems like I'm still at the same level as I was before coming in where I really didn't know much of the vocab, and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to learn everything before I leave. But we've been working hard and I'm sure it will turn out all right.

How are things going for you? Thanks so much for the letters...that's always so exciting! And thanks for sending them dearelder, as opposed to emailing them to me, since email time is EXTREMELY limited. Soeur Andrews almost wasn't able to send her email last week because she got down to 6 seconds and it almost didn't go through before it kicked her off. So it's nice to be able to read the letters at other times and just type during this time.

It's so great to hear that everyone is doing well! Have David write me and send me pictures...I want to hear all about Homecoming this weekend :) it's great to hear that things with Racheal are going well and that she's such a good baby; that was a huge relief for me. Also, thanks for the updates about Mike! I STILL haven't heard from him, so if you happen to go in today to see him (good thing you didn't go yesterday...he never works Wed and Thurs, and you might want to call before going in today), let him know that I am very impatiently awaiting my letter from him talking about last week. I want it soon! ;)

So things here are going really well. This week was a bit crazy as we got more used to the schedule and got to know the other elders in our class more. Souer Andrews and I still get along beautifully, and it is SO much fun! I love having her around :) She had to go to San Francisco this week for a little day trip on Tuesday with 8 other missionaries to turn in her VISA (I guess with the French consul you have to turn it in in person) and so she was gone for a whole day and it was so awful. I was with the elders ALL day and I definitely prefer being with her. The elders are great, but SO different. And it seemed like everything funny happened that day while she was gone! First I was walking to lunch and talking with several elders in a different zone, and they asked where i was headed and I said "lunch" and they were very enthusiastic about it and said "Oh, that's so great! That'll be so much fun!" and I agreed, but it seemed a bit odd...so i asked where they were headed and they both said "Ärgentina" and I just started laughing...i guess they misunderstood when i said "lunch"and thought that that was where i was serving my mission. So I tried to change it and say Montreal, and they just looked at me funny and walked away. i thought it was so funny; I told Elder Dautel who was acting as my companion and he didn't find it near as humorous, but then when I told Soeur Andrews the next day, we both laughed forever. (She was supposed to get home Tuesday night, but their flight was canceled and so they spent the night there and got home Wednesday at lunch time instead). Then at lunch on the day she was gone, I was surrounded by elders, and Elder Boer (the one from Italy...I just love him :) ) was sitting next to me and showing me this "magic trick"where he used both hands to pretend to stick a knife up his nose and then have it come out his mouth, then in his mouth and have it come out his nose. So as he was having it come out his nose, he blew really hard to pretend like he was blowing it out his nose, and this huge thing of snot came flying out and landed ON MY SHOULDER on my jacket and it was SO disgusting, and all the elders were laughing so hard that they wouldn't even help me get it off...eww, it was so gross. So he's been referencing that ever since. And he realized last Sunday while talking to me that he can see his reflection in my eyes, so he randomly stops and does what Jacob used to do and looks at me and says ï can see myself in your eyes..." He's so strange :)

Oh, and we had our first TRC lesson the other day while Soeur Andrews was gone, so I was working with Elder Dautel and Elder Parisuthem (from India) and it didn't go all that well. we rated the first part about a 5, because the Spirit was there, but we were definitely not unified in our teaching, and then the follow-up appointment a 7 because it went MUCH better. It's just interesting to see difference personalities in each of the elders and different teaching methods, and they don't always complement each other at all. But it was good practice. We have our second one tonight, and thank goodness Soeur Andrews is back...I think i'll be MUCH more relaxed and teach much better with her. OUr only problem is that we both think the exact same things at the same time, so we both try to say it. It's pretty funny; every time I defer to her and let her say something, it's exactly what I would have said, and vice versa. OH! and we've gone to the RC twice now...the first time it didn't go that well: I had random phone numbers. A department store in France, A mexican who only spoke Spanish, an operator in Illinois, and several other random numbers. Then we went back yesterday and I had about 20 answering machines, 4 hang ups before I even said anything, one please call back later tonight, and then I gave away one gift. But it was great: we called back the person who asked to call back and she wasn't there so we talked to her husband, and asked if we could send the missionaries (i had asked her earlier but she said she had to talk to her husband about it and to ask her at 5 after she had talked to him) and he said that they were actually Baptist and didn't really need a church, so i said it might be fun to have someone to talk to about the Bible anyways, and they asked S. Andrews and I to stop by today. Seeing as they're in Tennessee, we really couldn't do that, so we said we could send the missionaries if they wanted to talk in person or we could call back. They wanted us to call back so they could tell us a bit about the Baptist faith and we could just talk about the Bible a bit, so we're calling back this evening. (side note: they said to call at 5, but I can't remember if TN is 2 hours off or just 1...oh well) So hopefully it goes well! I'm a bit nervous...these are actual people, not just members pretending to be investigators. So please say a little prayer for me if you can! :)

Also, we are learning SO much here that I think would be good to implement back in our home ward. If I get time, I think I might copy my notes and send them to Dad just as some suggestions for the sisters in our ward. We had a really great meeting the other day on simple thigns to do to get people to WANT to come to sacrament meeting, and I really enjoyed it. Also, we had a fireside where they talked about in the BOM, 1 Nephi teaches all the principles of the gospel, and for investigators, we should have them start at the beginning instead of just hopscotching around from place to place. So it was really fascinating.

Anyways, time is close to up, so I should probably get going. Thanks for all the letters! You all are amazing! :) I love you all TONS and miss you like crazy!

Sister Nicole Lindsey

PS: Tiffany, i did leave my watch at your house, but I think I'm getting a new one since that was too big for me anyways, so you don't have to send it to me if you don't want to.

Mom: I do have some things that I'd like you to send to me if you can. I think I left my clock at home, and I really don't want to buy a new one of those, is there any way you can send it to me? And maybe some pictures of the family? I want to send them to S. Andrews. Those aren't necessary though.

Also: My camera isn't working hardly at all. I tried taking 2 pictures the other day and the batteries died after only 1 of them, I replaced them and it just wouldn't take the picture at all, and the rechargeable batteries won't work at all in the camera. Do you have any suggestions on what to do for that? Could you maybe buy me a new one, nothing expensive, just something to last for the mission so that I have something to take pictures of everything? If not, that's fine...just let me know!

I hope everything is going well for you and I love you tons!! :)