Week 2 in Good Ol' Cameron!

My Dearest Family and Friends! hello!

This week has been great.. lets start off with the most important part...

The Elders that were living in our apartment before us gave us bed bugs. ARE YOU KIDDING. It sure has been an adventure.. we were getting bit all over and our beds were like infested. We had an exterminator come and spray them once we had washed every single piece of clothing and deep cleaned the entire apartment. Here is sister moody's prayer the night the exterminator came "Heavenly father- we are grateful the exterminator man was able to come and get the bed bugs, please PLEASE give them no more life.." We laughed until tears were rolling down our face, we had been up all night and were restless and exhausted. but I think we are good now! We finally got all our clothes back.

We have had lots of success tracting, which doesn't happen every often but Heavenly Father is giving us miracles.

Travis- Travis is a 34 year old single guy. He is so awesome. Travis is fun and we love talking to him, he has a very hard time with the concept of faith, he has many theories and his own questions destroy any concept of faith he could possibly have. We have been working on him, but he is so fun, he likes to test our minds. He is a philosophy major, and he likes try and see us get scared of his questions. but we don't! we have the lord on our side. Travis is playing what we like to call, "Hard to baptize" but we'll get him. "Travis- what would it mean to you if christs true church was here and we had all the answers?" "well, it would mean everything."

Angelica- we tracted into Angelica as well. She is the sweetest little 15 year old youll ever meet. She let us in her house and we were able to teach her all of lesson 1 and set up a return appointment. She is really open and we are excited to teach her more about how much her heavenly father loves her.

Mandy- Mandy is a single young mom with 4 crazy boys. We ran into her on the street actually, as we talked she expressed to us her struggle of finding a job, making ends meet, and difficulty providing for her beautiful little family We asked her if we could share a message with her and she let us in. We focused on heavenly fathers love for her, we taught her about the true gospel restored on the earth and we showed her and Mormon message titled "hope ya know, were having a hard time" With tears in her eyes she basically begged us to come back, we gave her a hug and she promised she'd read the book of Mormon for her and her family. We will go back tomorrow.

I want to touch on something that I have learned is so important since I have been out, member missionaries. The ward out here in Cameron makes all the difference for us, every single member is so gung-ho to help us and to make sure all our investigators and less actives feel so so welcome when they come to church. They always introduce themselves and make our investigators feel welcome and it makes such a difference for us. Its amazing how different it is in Utah, our investigators come in jeans, shoes with holes, smelling like smoke and coffee, and yet our members make sure they know they are exactly where they are supposed to be. Every member a missionary.   We had a dinner appointment as Sister Studyvin's house.  She left us this cute sign!  We loved it!

I love you all so dearly! The church is true, the book is blue, and I love you!! So does your Heavenly Father.  Remember to read, pray, and keep yourself strong.  See you in 18!

Write me,

All my love, Sister Flink

Letter to Momma & Poppa Flink

March 24, 2014

Meet Travis!

March 26, 2014

Family!
Hello from po-dunk town Cameron Missouri!  With one Walmart, dirt roads, lots of beer, cigarettes, crazy people, and absolutely nothing to do but spread the good word!  :)

How are all of you?  I love you all!  Things are going good here.  Sister Moody and I work well together.  We've taught lots of people and done lots of tracking.  Its hard because every house in this entire dang town has already been knocked.  People know who the Mormons are for the most part.  Its a great day is we have a least one person who doesn't talk to us with booze breath, smoke, or high as a kite!  We actually tracted into this really cook young guy but he was so high as wasted after 5 minutes of trying to talk with us he said, "I don't feel comfortable talkin' bout this wit y'all right now!"  Well, no duh!  Haha!  I really hate tracting, I'm not going to lie but we have had miralces and I muster up the courage every single day, put a smile on my face and go knock on some doors and ask them what they believe and about Christ's true church on the earth (if they haven't slammed the door in our face yet!) 

It has been super cold here an get this......we are low on car miles so we've been having to ride bikes!  Let me tell you, a few times I thought I was going to fall over and die.  It's nothin' but hiss here, my legs are jello - but ya know, press forward Saints!

I have see the small miracle of the gospel working in people lives.  Let me tell you a little bit about Travis!  I love Travis because he reminds me of someone I love and cherish very, very much!  So I love Travis and he is close to my heart!  Travis is a 25 year old guy who is happy as can be, has a bright smile, and likes to test our patience to see how we'll react.  Travis went to church when he was young (Baptist) and over the years developed his own beliefs, theories, and ideas of how a church should run.  He has a heart of gold, but when his ideas are stuck in his mind he has no desire to think that maybe he is wrong.  He has a hard time with the concept of faith, he believed in science, theory, and rules are a waste of time.  As we spend an hour in the freezing cold on Travis's porch, his eyes began to become interested and his change of attitude towards us being there and the sincere questions he was wanting to know about taught us that Heavenly Father has been preparing him to hear this message for a long time!  Many time the "light bulb" clicked and he would do a little side grin, smile and shake his head~ like whatever~ and then keep listening.  We had a breakthrough when he said, "Nobody truly know what's true because even with all these books nobody has all the answers."  And he is the type of guy who you need to be straight forward with or you won't get anything out of it. I said, "We do!"  He said, "What, the Book of Mormon that you talked about?'  I said, "Yup, what would it mean to you if God has given us everything we needed to know, all the answers and all the information to get back with him again?"  He responded and said, "Well I never thought I'd say this, but I guess that would mean everything!"  I handed him the Book of Mormon, read Moroni 10: 3-5 and asked him to pray with real intent after he read it and he will have the answers!  He gave me a little side grin and took a puff of his 3rd cig while we were there, grabbed it from me, and just looked at it.  We let the Holy Ghost work on him and after awhile we said it again, "Will you?"  He hesitated and grinned, shook his head, and said, "Okay, you two, I'll do it!"  I told him we'd be back!  He shook our hands and we were on our way!  Simple miracles guys.  This is one of many!  Things are good. 
 
I love my companion and Cameron Missouri is bring forth some good fruit.  I have lots of memorizing to get done and it sucks, but I have already passed off Lesson 1.  With every lesson in preach my gospel, we have to memorize every main bullet point, and the 5 or 6 sub bullets for each section, a Scripture reference to go with each one, a scripture memorized word for word, and also the commitments at the end.  So it is a lot you have to do and we have to do it in 12 weeks.  But I am making progress!

The first day of our Mission, President Keyes said, "Every Morning from here on out is like Christmas morning!"  I love you guys.  Hope to hear from you soon.  I especially love you this week Jare Bear!


Always~  Sister Flink

First P-Day in the Mission Field!

Hello family and friends!

I am safe and well here in Missouri and enjoying my first week out in the mission field. I am in a little po-dunk town called Cameron, Missouri. There is one Walmart, one gas station, lots of dirt roads, and little houses. Its a little town with great people.  I did get to visit Liberty Jail.  It was Awesome. 


Nikki at Liberty Jail!



My first Bike in the Mission Field

I had a difficult time saying bye to Sister Mancell and Sister Sare!


I had a difficult time saying bye to Sister Mancell and Sister Sare!



I loved being in the MTC with these two crazy companions! 

 My new companion is Sister Moody. She is great, she is from Payson, UT and is a cute blonde. We are two peas in a pod, as hard as it is out here we spend our days working hard and with much laughter. I love her guts, she makes me workout every morning so I really love her. I love my mission president and mission mom, they are amazing.



Pretty Sisters in Pink! 

 

So we have been teaching a lot of people, following up with less actives, and LOTS of tracting. I was super uncomfortable with it at first, like knocking on peoples doors and asking what they believe, but I have seen miracles. We have met 3 really solid potential investigators, we have two on date for baptism and our goal is three more this week. I love the people here, I am connecting with every one. Door after door slammed in our face, we found some miracles and I love these people. It Is hard work, but the gospel is the most true and precious thing we have in our lives. May we never forget it.

 I love you all so much.
 

My new address is

1013 Ensign Trace
Apt D

Cameron, MO

64429

Hope to hear from you soon!

Love, Sister Flink

Letter from President Keyes!

"We go forth enlisted in Helaman's Army!"

To All the People I love!

It is not exactly in the rules to be writing you tonight, but it is my final night here in the MTC.  I am up way too late, but I really wanted to put in a letter in the morning before I leave.  Your letters mean so much to me.  I hope you truly understand.  I am so blessed to have the family that I do.  Thank you so much, I pray for you every night individually.  I am so happy and it is because of my Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Never in my life have I had a reality so strong of my redeemer and the fact of his suffering.  Family, he loves you!  The tomb is empty, he is risen and he know each and everyone of us.  If I have learned anything of such great importance, everyday I strive to learn the true character of Christ, because I am his representative.  I take upon his name, thinking.. What would Christ do in this very moment,

"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." 

My dear family, may we never forget the one who suffered for us.  The one who is waiting to hear from us.  There is not a human problem that is above his capacity to solve.  I love you!

I am off to Missouri and I don't know if I can ever say I am ready, but I am willing and my heart is full for this gospel.  I am concerned with a higher destination for me and the people the Lord is preparing for me!  I have received a call from the Lord and truly, in this moment, what else matters?  As it says in Moroni 7, "I am God's angel to minister unto the children of men" and also to those back home!  My mission is not just in Missouri and not just for 18 months either!  It maybe a while until you hear from me, but Keep On Keepin On!  We are so blessed!

I'll talk to you soon- tomorrow at the Airport! 

Always ~  Sister Flink

This is my Zone in the MTC

This is my zone and I love Sister Tagilala!  She is the best and will be serving the Lord in Tennesee!  She rocked!

The greatest District ever!

This is my district!

Left to right:  Elder Cutler (E.C), Elder Taylor, Elder Henrie (biggest goofball), Elder Bowman!

Free at Last, Free at Last- only if it is to Walgreens!

Ok, I know this might sound silly, but the three of us are so excited because "we got a shuttle pass and get to go to Walgreens and be FREE and escape MTC prison!"  The three of us were stoked out of our minds!

Seeing this Handsome Elder at the MTC was the highlight of Sister Flink's Week!

Every Sunday evening at the MTC they have a devotional!  Sister Flink knew before she left home that she might have the chance to run into Elder Jardine on that Sunday, March 9th 2014.  SHE DID!!   
 

Monday morning, March 10, From Hayden:

 

But guess what! I saw Nikki last night finally! We went to main campus for a devotional and I went all around looking for her and we were on our way back to the main building and I saw her walking out! and was like "Sister Flink!!" and  she jumped in the air and shook my hand and started crying haha she didn't let go of my hand and it was like a solid 30 seconds and i didn't know if i should pull my hand away because it was too much contact I didn't know what to do hahaha but yeah it was so great to see her then we took pictures and stuff! but I forgot my camera so they were all on her's and she said she'd email them to you, her pday is Thursday.  She's doing good. She said her first lesson was a mess but who's wasn't. She's the sister training leader in her district which is like district leader but for girls. So that's cool! She's holding up and she has to because another girl is having a really hard time so she's doing good to be an example for her for sure too!

 

What a great day to see each other before Elder Jardine leave for Mexico on March 17th!

 

 

 

My Amazing Companions

Let me introduce you to my Companions,  Sister Mancell and Sister Sare.  Sister Mancell is from Utah!  South Weber to be exact!  She was a NorthRidge Knight and I was a Clearfield Falcon!  We had the same mutual friends, but never really had the chance to get to know each other until a few months before we entered the MTC.  What a blessing it is to serve as her companion and feel like 'home" is with me everyday.  We laugh and share stories about the friends we both know! 

My other Companion is Sister Sare!  She is from California and I love her!  We all three get along perfectly!  We laugh together, cry together, pray together!  I could not  have prayed for better companions.  I love them both!

Happy First P-Day!

Family and Friends!!!!! Hi!

I thought this day would never come. Finally I get to write and talk to all of you. I was so over whelmed with all the emails I opened up to find from all of you. Thank you so much, I am so blessed. I will try my hardest to email everyone back one by one but for now I just want to tell you about my first week there in the MTC. 

The MTC is exhausting, and tiring, and overwhelming and crazy. Every second of every day is completely planned. but I LOVE it. The MTC is a powerful place full of the spirit and missionaries that are eager to go do the lords work. I have two companions, yes I am lucky enough to have two! I am in a trio, and unlike one of my BFF's Elder Brown, I absolutely love it. We work well together, we work hard, we laugh, we cry together, and we get up and start again. I am senior companion and the training leader. One of our teachers, Brother Mosley, told us we were the best trio he's seen in a long time with how we can teach together and lift each other up, their names are Sister Mansell and Sister Sare. I actually knew Sister Mansell before I came and I was praying and hoping she would be my companion, and look at that. God answers prayers. We have SO much fun, I love her.

My District is awesome. We have 4 elders and they are all going to Kansas.  They're funny. We've been teaching ALOT and our 3 progressing "investigators" are awesome. The power of missionary work is so real. One investigator in particular named Julie. Julie's husband is super hesitant and doesn't like her meeting with us, but she does because she says "I dont know what it is but I love the way it makes me feel." As we've taught her she has grown so much, yesterday as I extended the invitation for her to be baptized the power of the spirit came on me so profoundly I forgot to take a breath. As Julie sat across from us in silence, she started to weep. Her words her, "I know this is right. I just want to stand up and jump around screaming YES!" As I was shedding tears of my own I giggled and smiled at her, and testified the power of the gospel. That was a beautiful moment. It shows how the gospel will teach us real truth that will burn in our hearts, and once we know the truth we rejoice with happiness. I love it.

The MTC is great, as my dad put it "I am on fire" to go teach the happiness of the gospel.

This will be my only P-day here, and then I leave the 19th which means I will probably be jipped another P-day until the next week. Write me in Missouri and Email me WHENEVER, It makes my day just to hear how you are doing.  I love and cherish every one of you. I will see you in 18!

Love, Sister Flink

First night in the MTC.

Family!

 

It's night number 1 here. Today was really...Overwhelming, but great.  I got here and they rushed me straight to get  all my books and stuff. Then we went up to our classroom and met our zone leaders. Oh duh, Before I forget...QUINCY (oops, Sister Mansell) is my companion!!! Best thing Eva! but we are in a trio, so Sister Mansell, Sister Sare and I. Sister Sar is from California, she's super cute.  Shes 21 but looks like she's younger than me.  She's stick skinny and super short. We all got along right from the start, It's good.  Then we went to the opening devotional and I sat next to this really cute little sister and she all the sudden just started bawling, like hysterically weeping, I just wasn't sure what to do..I got a little anxiety about it haha. Today was super rushed but we had an awesome experience with three separate investigators telling us their stories. As a big group of new missionaries we all came together to teach them. They were real investigators, which as pretty sweet. Dinner was good....SALAD. Then we had one more meeting with our Branch President and met all our zone leaders and teachers. It was a long day but I'm not complaining yet.  I seriously have no time to write letters (It's already past my bedtime).

Send everyone my love, and use Dear Elder.

Oh and I have already developed painful blisters on my heels. Ouch, I'll figure it out. I'll write tomorrow. I love you!

All my love,
Nikki

My Life for the next 18 months as Sister Jacqueline Nicole Flink

March 5, 2014
The MTC is a whole new experience.  My family dropped me off on Wednesday at 12:45.   It was hard saying good-bye them, but I was ready to serve the Lord.  The MTC is so exhausting, draining, and overwhelming, but it is AWESOME, seriously!  I love you guys so much, but you know, I don't get homesick very often.  I am doing so good!  I  definitely feel all the prayers I want you to know that Heavenly Father is taking care of me here.  I feel so blessed because I see all these missionaries struggling and I am so happy, calm, and busy fulfilling my purpose here as a missionary once again.  I love every single one your letters.  I love you all so much.  I am a missionary so I am blessed.  And so are you.  Many times I have had the answer from my Heavenly Father "your family is in my hands"  so I love you and pray for you!  See you in 18! 

This is my Family! 
Left to right -Back: Kailee & PJ Peterson, Steve (Dad), Jill (Mom) ME!, Bottom: Jerrod, McKenna & Mitch Tulane