Week 5 - I'm A Month Old!

Metta Kofum?! ('What are you?' basically I'm asking How are you. Woleaian is so weird haha)

So I've been in Yap for a full week now! Everything is so different here, nothing at all like home. Also everything here is super dirty just because of how wet and humid everything is, you cant help but getting mud/dirt on everything! It's pretty fun :) My companion actually freaked out when she saw my sunglasses and told me to not wear them at all because they're way to nice and I need to just save em for when I get home because they'll get ruined here. Bit of an exaggeration because I've been wearing them all week and they still look brand new ;)

You know what's pretty great though? The Book of Mormon. It's kinda nice to just have an hour or so to myself everyday to just read. Aside from the awesome testimonies in there, it's also so interesting to get to know the culture of those people living at that time. It's such a cool story! And as my companion put it, some of those prophets " are just spitting straight fire and throwin' mad shade". Haha it's kinda true  

We've been teaching SO MANY PEOPLE. And I still haven't met most of the people we'll be teaching. So in my Area, it used to be split into two areas and some Yapese speaking sisters took the Yapese half and the Woleaian sisters took the Outer island half (outer island is another name for Woleaian as the Woleaian people are from the outer islands of Yap). Most everyone here is Catholic and they're all pretty interested in what we have to say. We just have to then convince them that what we have to say is different than their religion, and they need to be baptized. I'm sure you can fill in the holes and picture what I'm saying. 

Last night though we actually had someone run up to us as we were going home. Sister Jones had been teaching this guy before but then he left to outer island but he came back now. He told us "Hey are we going to meet again? I.. I am ready to get baptized." So that was pretty cool!

As far as lessons go, let me paint a picture for you. During one lesson, we were there teaching and it was a pretty good lesson on the restoration. And everywhere on the island, dogs and chickens and cats just run free. Always, and everywhere. And I was telling the Joseph Smith story, and by the end of it, the family's dog, their two cats, and their hen and all her little chicks were cuddled up together and sleeping in the middle of all of us. It was SO CUTE and a little distracting for me to be honest ;) 

In another lesson, it was getting dark and all of a sudden, these things come jumping around and running through the lesson. It was frogs. Massive things. The smallest was the size of my fist! And there had to be at least 13 of them. I was kinda freaking out. Haha I did my best to stay focused and answer the investigator! But it was so hard when I'm thinking these frogs are going to jump on me! I was half teaching about Joseph Smith, half yelping because 13 frogs looked like they were going to jump on me 

Anywho, Yap is pretty good. There's lots of work, not a lot of easy communication between us and investigators though. We mostly just show up at their property and they're just chillin in a hammock and we teach them. And then schedule a time to come again, and we come and they're not home, so we show up randomly the next day and so on. haha it's pretty fun :) I hope you're all happy, healthy, and keeping yourselves spiritually fed :) Read the Book of Mormon, but actually read it to read. Don't waste your time moving your eyes over words when you could be fully understanding what those prophets are trying to tell you. 2 Nephi 32 and 33 are awesome. I just read them this morning. I specifically love 2 Nephi 33:10. And I love that Nephi's last words are "and I must obey. Amen" I've also been enjoying Matthew and reading about the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is a genius and reading his account is super cool. 

Love you all!

-Sister Felt

Week 4 - A Tropical Paradise

Hello Everyone!! I hope your week has been great :) Mine sure has been very eventful! Well, I made it to Micronesia! The whole time zone change thing is confusing, so I'll try to explain my week in the simplest way possible. But last Sunday your time I was sitting in a bunk bed in the Provo MTC feeling: a little scared about just up and leaving the country, sad about never seeing half my district and Sister Nelson again, and overall pumped to see what Guam is like! I woke up at 3:00, grabbed my bags and headed out the door! I was ALONE. Oh my gosh that was wonderful. But then sadly I had to join 18 Elders... *sigh* It's always a bummer when you have 18 men all to yourself to party and laugh with and take care of you :/ Jokes Jokes!! Haha we had so much fun and they're all such great guys! We traveled from Salt Lake to Guam in two whole days. Our flight from Salt Lake to San Francisco was delayed due to the fog/smoke so we missed our connection from San Francisco to Hawaii. We made it to San Francisco but had an 8 hour layover. Sooooo we spent the time studying and proselyting! We talked to a lot of really awesome people who were so receptive to the gospel and we gave out A LOT of pass along cards and pamphlets. I loved traveling with and teaching with those Elders. We seriously grew so close, and even though I wasn't the group leader, I still felt like a Mom keeping track of 18 different kids. Those boys have become my family. Oh ya, we missed our connection. So we flew out for Honolulu at 7pm, but by that time we were forced to stay the night in Hawaii. Torture, I know. We got to Hawaii at 11ish and the church already had hotels booked for us. A seminary teacher and stake high councilman met us at the airport and said he was there to make sure we all made it to our hotel safely. He dropped us off with 8 boxes of pizza, granola bars, and cookies. We got to the hotel and lo and behold, I had my own room (surprise surprise) and for the Elders it was two elders to a room. We all quickly checked in and went to go drop our bags off in our rooms. I got my room key and I was on the 12th floor. All the Elders were on 6 and 7. I thought that was weird but I just went up, found my room, opened the door and... What?!?! The PENTHOUSE suite???? I literally dropped my bags (and my jaw) threw my hands in the air and gasped/cheered and ran around the room looking out the windows at the beautiful Hawaiian night. I had a king sized bed and full bathroom ALL TO MYSELF. Heaven. Seriously God is so good. I ran back downstairs and met with the rest of the Elders and we said a prayer and then dug into the pizza. Those sweet guys of course said "Ladies first" and I rolled my eyes (in a loving way) and they said "Sister Felt we know your hungry, dig in" So I walk up and just start spreading the pizza around, like a mom, and handing out plates and making it accessible. We had a mini devo and talked about the day and what we'd do in the morning. Then we headed off to bed. I showered and went to bed in my fluffy king sized bed and woke up to the sun shining over the ocean waves that were crashing over the rocky shore, and the clouds weaving between the green mountains, and a freaking rainbow just chillin there like it had no where else special to be. Oh. My. Gosh.

Anywho, that was Hawaii. We made it to Guam and as soon as we got there... ugh... sisters. I had to be with FEMALES again..... Seriously though, that was so so hard, to have these sisters just come up to me and almost shun me away from those Elders who have pretty much become my sanity and family. I mean, I already left my family two weeks ago, then they make me do it again?! I was not very happy. I get into the car (with the three sisters ) and the one sits next to me in the back seat, kicks her shoes off and sits cross legged. Her name is Sister Alanzo and she's Pohnpeian. She turned to me, put her hand on my shoulder firmly and said "I am your new temporary companion" like that guy from the movie with Tom Hanks who takes over the ship and says "I'm the captain now" and then she says "I will be with you all the time, I will never leave. Okay?" and then proceeds to nod at me encouragingly. Honestly I was so shocked I was just kinda like "uhh okay?" We then went to President and sister Poston's house ( pronounced: "Post" like post office and "uhn") and I reunited with my Elders and we talked and ate pizza. Then It was time for bed. And all the Elders just left. I was stuck in this house with Sister Poston and Sister Alanzo. honestly, I just started crying. I had had all my Elders, my second family, just walk out the door and leave me to the unknown. I felt so so alone and ripped to peices. Sister Poston talked with me and was talking to me about the islands and then she goes "and you know, I'm sure you'll love it on Yap once you-Oh!" haha I wasn't suppose to know what island Id be on yet, but she let it slip. And then she goes "Or Saipan, or Kosrae or Palau, you know you just never know.. oh my...." Haha it was kinda funny, but also nice I just got to know where I'd be. The next morning we got up and had breakfast at the stake center (the only stake in Micronesia) and had a training meeting where we then all found out where we'd be serving and who our companions would be! Of course it was ladies first again, but I already knew. So i read my call and in came running Sister Jones! My new companion :) She's pretty awesome, shes been serving on Yap for 9 months now. Only one other Elder is going to Yap, he's Elder Bryant. 

I'm running out of time so imma summarize real quick. But at the meeting, they were explaining the rules, and when they got to the boy girl situation, the STL said "If youre saying something to make the other gender laugh, you've gone to far." That was ridiculous. I said heck no to that! Those guys are my friends and friends can laugh and have fun. When I talked with President Poston about it in my interview with him he shook his head and kind of agreed with me. He just said you don't want to flirt, but we're friends and you can have fun. But this is a professional relationship, so keep it mature as well. I like him. Anywho, Guam. I had to spend like two or three days  on Guam before I could come to Yap and it was just terrible. I had no one to serve, not much to do, and I just felt so out of place and homesick. The only thing I found comfort in was reading the Book of Mormon. Because when I read it, it's just like when I'm reading it with you guys back at home sitting around the big coffee table. It's the exact same words, it's the exact same feeling. I'm sitting here starting to cry as I type. I miss you all so so much. Those days in Guam were so hard. When I had my interview with president I just broke down and started bawling. It's because I'm being selfish and missing my mountains and missing you and only thinking about me. I don't like the mess and all I can think about is I I I, Me me me. But I'm stuck cooped up in a messy apartment with nothing else to think about but me!?!? President actually asked me if I wanted to call home, because I told him at that point, I didn't want to be here, and I wanted to go home. i wasn't going to go home, but i wanted to go home. We talked and it was just nice to get all those feelings out. Me and some of the Elders had been joking lightly but seriously about "Just run me over so I can break my leg and go home" and stuff like that. But I survived. I made it to Yap

Oh Yap. This place is incredible. Seriously a living breathing real life Jungle!! I flew over with Elder Bryant and Elder Nelson and Sister Jones and I. We're the only Sisters on Yap, Sister Jones and I. So we'll fly back to Guam at least once a month for leadership conference. But Yap is beautiful! Driving down the one main road has coconut, banana, beetle nut, all kinds of trees and bushes just THERE! It's CRAZY! I love it so much! there's little geckos all over the place, and mangey dogs that just chill out everywhere. I got to the apartment and FINALLY unpacked. I had been living out of a suitcase for almost a full week and I had had ENOUGH of it. We got to Yap at like 10pm and then in the morning, it was Sunday and I got up and read scriptures and felt really homesick again. But then we left an hour early for church and drove through the jungle to this little field where there were a few huts/structures and this family. We went to invite them to church. As soon as I saw those people, all of my homesickness and depression and stress just went away. I FINALLY had some people to work for, help, and care about!! You know that whole, forget yourself and go to work? Ya. I could FINALLY do that because now there was work. It was so easy to do once there were people to serve! Sacrament meeting was beautiful and so spiritual and lovely. Also, everyone here speaks English and either Yapese or Woleaian (Wolly Eye an). I'm learning Woleaian (sometimes called outer island) The church is so new here, it's very unestablished. Dad, I think you'd have an anurism if you saw the unorganization of these churches. There's two of them on Yap and I went and helped out with Primary at the other more run down church. It was still AWESOME! I had to keep myself from crying throughout the whole sacrament meeting. It was so so incredible.

The air here is hot and wet, but its pretty nice :) Everyone either wears flipflops, some sort of sandle, or no shoes. The people chew Beetle nut which is against the word of wisdom. It's something from a beetle nut tree that they cover in lime poweder and wrap in a red leaf and chew it like Tobacco. Yesterday (which was Sunday here) we also went and talked to Emily and her kids in this house that's just a roof on stilts with rooms inside in the middle of the jungle. Today I bought my Machete (heck ya!) and I'm still gasping about the crazy awesomeness of this island. You know Moana? Ya, I'm pretty much living in her world. The houses, the trees, the people, everything is pretty much exactly like Moana. But no pigs. There are chickens all over the place, but I'd say the pig is the only difference. I love you all so much! I hope you know It's been a hard week for me, but I'm finally doing okay. We're about to go get our laundry out of the dryer (it costs 8 dollars to do laundry here?!?) and then join the Elders for a P-Day Barbeque at their house on the beach. They live out in the jungle because it's more dangerous there, but it's also more beautiful. We live in an apartment. Aslo  the Moss's (senior couple. Elder and sister Moss) fed us dinner last night and it was lovely. My companion is not white, but she's american, so I think i'm the only blonde person on this island. love you all!!! have I said it yet? I love you all so so so so much!!!!

Love,

Sister Felt

P.S. Here is me and my machete and the mumu (wreath thing on my head) I got from the branch president. Plus, I love you 

Our Island Girl Has Arrived!

Nicole FINALLY made it to Guam. After a luxurious night's sleep all by herself in the penthouse suite of a Honolulu hotel, (thanks to a missed connection in San Francisco), she and the 18 elders traveling with her arrived in Guam around 1:30 am this morning--which would be around 5:30 pm in Guam. Her darling mission president's wife had her email us to let us know that she had arrived. So glad to know that she's there and in good hands. Can't wait to hear more!

A letter to the Primary Kids

Dear Primary,

I miss you all so much!! We have a lot of big meetings here and Elder Bednar came to one of them this Sunday. Before the meeting we sang a bunch of Primary songs, and guess who knew them all... this missionary! Only thanks to you though :) Elder Bednar was pretty dang cool, he's a smart man. The MTC has been a really neat experience, it's been kind of sad to be away from home and away from all of you, but going on a mission is so good and so worth it. I've learned a ton here and I know so much more about this church than I ever thought I would. Right before I left I taught a primary lesson to Max, Michael, Kelton, Johnathan, Garrett, Jack, and Haley about how Joseph Smith got the commandment for the Word of Wisdom. And just a couple days ago, I taught that same lesson to one of our investigators! Awesome! If I hadn't been in Primary, I probably wouldn't have known the story and my investigator wouldn't have learned it either. I leave for Guam tonight (Monday morning) and I'm not too nervous. I'm just super excited to be able to go out and help people learn about how happy they can be if they decide they want to be like Jesus.

One of the first things we teach people who want to know more about our church is that God is our loving Heavenly Father. Can I just tell you kiddo's that is so true? Heavenly Father loves us all and knows us individually. He's taking care of me right now while my Mom, family and ward family can't. A mission is such a neat experience. I hope you're all being good for your teachers, and I hope you're saying your prayers and being kind to one another (I'm talking to you Spencer and Ben ;) ) I miss you lots! And I know this church is true.

Love,

Sister Felt

Week 3: Master has given Dobby a sock.. Dobby is freeeee!

Hello everyone!! I'm almost out of the MTC!

It's been an interesting week (yet again). On Sunday for the evening sunday video, instead of letting all the missionaries split up and watch whatever conference talk we wanted they made us stay in the gym and watch the Characters of Christ talk Elder Bednar gave when he spoke at the MTC one Sunday morning on Christmas several years ago. We were all upset because we watched that one last week, but after the video was over,  GUESS WHO SHOWED UP. Ya that's right, the man himself, Elder David A. Bednar. He had a question and answer session and I was sitting 20 yards away from him (When I was telling the Elders in our district I was sitting 20 yards away from Elder Bednar a couple of them looked at me funny and asked if I was a hunter. I proudly said I was and then we even became better pals! Haha the plane ride to Guam is gonna be a party! But a spiritual party. Full of missionary work.), with no one in the seats in front of us, so I could see him and his cute wife perfectly! It was so incredible! His message was simple. Don't be an idiot, stop thinking about yourself, quit whining because a mission is not about you. I really hoped my one companion was listening.

On Sunday I was also called to be a Sister Training Leader in our Zone. It's been kind of fun to welcome all the new girls and see how lost I probably looked when I first got here too. Now I'm so ready to go. I've got the lessons down, I've received lots of personal revelation, and I am SO READY TO GET OUT OF HERE. Hahah I love the MTC :) Honestly though, it really has strengthened my testimony and it's such an incredible place to just study the gospel and learn about what is truly most important in this life. Everything else is just fluff. Except for my Mom, she's pretty important ;)

I'm sitting here trying to remember what happened this week, but everything at the MTC has become a blur. My companion (Sister Nelson) is writing her email just asked me "Is Groundhog Day the movie where the one guy just keeps repeating the same day over and over again?" Geee I wonder why she'd be asking about THAT right now.. haha I just laughed  Couldn't POSSIBLY imagine how she'd be be able to relate to that 

Though the food here is still horrible (thank you to everyone who has sent me food. You're my fav) the cardio is still intense so I've maintained weight. Not sure how the plane ride to Guam is going to go, I haven't traveled in a long time. For those of you who don't know, I leave Monday morning at 3am. woot woot!

So on Thursday, I was in the lunch room finishing breakfast and I saw this Blonde sister with cute bangs standing in the corner looking lost. It was SISTER KARLEE LINDHARDT! I ran over to her and gave her the biggest hug in the world!! My beautiful cousin just got the the MTC and she's made me feel so at home one last time before I leave Utah. I went and found her room that night and brought her food and we laughed talked and cried together. Earlier that day during a Sister Training Leader thing one of the leaders was talking about when the residence halls were dedicated and in the prayer they said "Angel's and guardians will watch over and protect the missionaries that reside here." and when they said that (I wasn't paying attention to any of the meeting, I think I was sleeping or something) I had this super clear thought come to me that was just, 'why wouldn't my relatives be some of those angels?' And when I was in my residency hall that night, crying and laughing with my cousin, I told her that and we cried and laughed some more.

It's been good. This is Jesus Christ's Gospel, and it is wonderful. Live by his standards and you'll be incredibly blessed and you wont drive your companions crazy. Also, having the Spirit with you all the time is pretty cool. Personal revealtion is definitly something worth being worthy of.

Oh, and I invited one of our investigators to be baptized and she said yes :) Pretty cool!

Love you all!

-Sister Nicole Felt

I found my girl in this candid photo snapped by someone going through the MTC open house. So fun to see her. Ummm...talking to an...Elder?

Week 2

August 5, 2017
Hello Everyone!

The MTC has been such an interesting experience so far. My first few days here I was putting up a positive, fake happy front with my comanions and finally on like Sunday or Monday night I gave up and I just broke free and I was GRUMPY. Oh my gosh it was so nice to just be grumpy. 🤣Everyone was so fake nice and happy and unreal and I caved first and broke the vibe. It was wonderful! Haha ever since then I've been able to be myself and so have my companions.

The Food is still terrible, but shout out to the Madre and my Grandma for sending me killer snacks! As a district we've been getting together during exercise time and doing cardio, weight lifting, and volleyball. And can I just say, the Guam half of my district is KILLING it at Volleyball (the other half of my district is going to Seattle). It's awesome to go up to the outdoor sand volleyball court in the evenings and watch the sky turn orange and purple as we all just destress.

This week we "tracked" and found our first investigators and scheduled lessons with them. They're not real investigators, just paid actors. But it's still pretty real considering they're converts to the church playing themselves when they were taking missionary discussions for real. Our two investigators are Olivia and Chevin (Like Heaven, but with a shh). We've taught Olivia Three times and have gotten through lesson three in Preach My Gospel. It's been going really well, I've been able to communicate effectively and clearly and I've been able to keep the lesson on track. My companions are learning a lot too. We've gotten into arguments occasionally. Usually it's Sister Boman being way dramatic and getting upset with us and us calming her down, but we're all pretty good now. Shes working hard, and we're getting along too.

I had a cool experience teaching the restoration to Chevin this week. Before the lesson we were preparing and I was suppose to teach the bit about Joseph Smith and I just voiced "Do I even have a testimony of Joseph Smith? Like, 'I know it's all true' thought, but do I personally have a testimony?" But I just kind of moved on, got the lesson ready and went in to teach Chevin. As I began to teach her about Joseph Smith, I just felt the spirit so so strongly. It was incredible. After the lesson I was ecstatic with my companions just totally feeling that the church was true! and Wise ole Sister Nelson said "I didn't really feel it, but maybe you received that spiritual confirmation because of the questions you were asking beforehand." And she was totally right. I love Sister Nelson so much, she's a wonderful wise soul. Also, she reminds me a lot of Mom! She loves playing cards, swing dancing, country music, and she can quote movies with me off the top of her head, but in the most subtle dry way. It's hilarious 🤣.

We got new roomies this Wednesday. Another trio, so that makes six of us in our room. They're going to the Provo Mission and the St. George mission. They're so so sweet, but oh my gosh. They want to get up at 5:30 EVERY MORNING. My companions and I are going to kill them. Also, they snore so I don't get any sleep anymore. Like maybe a couple hours every night. AND on top of it all, they stay up until 11 talking and freaking out over planning for the next day. Uugghhh... We're gonna see how tonight goes and then maybe have a little chat with them.

I leave the MTC in 8 days! And i'm flying to Guam with 18 other Elders. I'll be in a companionship with just two elders as I'm the only sister flying to Guam.

Love y'all. I really miss the mountains and spending time outdoors. We can see mount Timpinogus (I don't know how to spell it) from here and looking up the canyon is so so beautiful. It really pulls on my heart strings.This morning at the temple we walked around to the other side of the temple and found quail, which was awesome! So many of them! Mama's, chicks, males, and all sorts :) They were so beautiful and reminded me of seeing quail in Arizona. Have a wonderful week! And Listen to the spirit because that guy's a genius.

Love,
Sister Felt

What a blessing it is to run into a familiar face or two at the MTC!

Sister Brooklin Lindhardt and Sister Felt

Sister Felt, Elder Speth, Zuster Hardy

Week 1

July 29, 2017

Hello Family! Hope you're all happy healthy and enjoying life without me :) It's been an... interesting.. four days. I guess I'll start with after you dropped me off.

So the missionary who came to pick me up didn't know Elder Dalan Speth, but she is leaving to Indiana with him. She was super nice, but just kinda dropped me off into this big shuttle line thing that I walked through and was handed papers, then guided to my room, dropped off my stuff and was led up to our district classroom. It took an hour or so for my companions (yes, companions) to show up but they got there. 

I am in a Trio. Sister Boman is from California/Texas and she's headed to the Seattle Washington mission and Sister Nelson is from Star Valley Wyoming and she's headed to Zimbabwe. Sister Nelson is awesome! She's a visa waiter and was suppose to go to the South Africa MTC but I am so so glad she's here! She loves to work hard and wants to study. She’s also quiet and reserved, but not afraid to speak up when everyone's done talking. She knows her stuff.

Our district is awesome!! It's just us Sisters and a bunch of Elders. Half of the Elders are going to Seattle and half are going to Guam with me. Fun fact, I am the only sister in the MTC that is going to Guam. I cherish every moment I get with those Micronesian Elders (Elders who are going to Micronesia, not from Micronesia).

Our Zone is pretty great too. Our Zone leaders are going to Colorado Springs I think and they're rockstars. Last night the STL's (sister training leaders. Basically sister zone leaders) found us and invited us to the zone testimony meeting. Also, the STL's come to our room every night with cookies, bread, cinnamon rolls, all kinds of great food.

Oh, Food! Man the food here is just awful haha. I don't really want to eat a lot of it. But meal time I cherish with every fiber of my being. Not for the food, but for my friends. The first day at dinner I saw Elder Dalan Speth and Zuster Lis Hardy and I almost started crying again. I love them so freaking much and as I've come to points of basically mental breakdowns I'll see Elder Speth in the lunchroom and we'll quickly chat and it literally saves my life.

Thursday and Friday we taught Katya, an actor invesitagor (but a good actor!). Katya is Russian and she wanted to know what that joy and light was she saw in the Mormon church when she went with her friend. She has two kids and wanted to bring that joy to her family. So we decided to teach her the 1st discussion Thurs and just teach her the basics. It was really rough honestly. We went all over the place talking about the restoration, priesthood, commandments, temple, plan of salvation, repentance, atonement, basically everything. It was kind of a mess. and she kept asking us, "How can your church bless my family?"

The next day (yesterday) we decided to teach her the second lesson, Plan of Salvation. we planned it a lot better but when we taught it we still went all over the place. Sister Boman enjoyed talking about the whole lesson and really expounded on it. She knew it well. but katya kept asking us how the gospel can bless her family. Finally near the end (the lesson was still a mess, but better than the previous one the day before) I asked if she had questions for us or understood what we were saying and she said "you know, I asked my friend how the gospel can bless me and my family, and she said to come to the missionaries for answers. but you don't seem to be telling me the answer. I still don't know.'' and that made me really sad because I am a representative of Christ and I need to be able to answer her questions and be the representative I need to be for those with questions. It was hard to think about later and I wish I did have all the answers. Thankfully Katya is just an actress and not a real investigator but it's still disappointing I failed her and could not meet her needs.

The temple today was good. I made Sister B come running with my last night Sister N stayed with another companion in our residency hall and studied. We got it okayed. I gave tours last night too but it was spur of the moment and I probably won’t give them again. A mission is stressful in the beginning, but I think I can see where if you just tuck your head and push through you make it to some joy and not stressful parts. Man I dunno, I'll figure it out and let you know in 18.

Love you all!
Sister Felt

Sister Felt, Sister Boman, Sister Nelson