Nicky on his bike in his last area
People always ask if it’s gone by fast or slow, and I’m pleased to say that, so far, it’s gone by pretty fast! It helps that Nicky has done very well, and he’s really independent. He was not always this way, and I'm thankful every day that he grew into it. If he were struggling mentally, emotionally, or spiritually, it would be a different story. Things aren’t perfect - he often tells us how hard it is, but he’s handling it. I’m sure he hides a lot from us, and when he gets home, he’ll tell the real story, but I truly believe he’s okay.
A baptism Nicky has hoped for for a long time (the little gal on the right was a surprise baptism)
Now please don’t ever make me send a daughter out! Why do girls only serve 18 months? Because their moms can’t handle it! The level of worry over one of my daughters would be ten fold.
Here's a little update on the mission:
- Nicky is in his third area and with his 7th companion.
- He left Puerto Rico for five months and served in Antigua. It’s its own country. They don’t speak very much Spanish there, so he lost a bit of his language retention. He just went back to PR a couple of weeks ago. Missionaries aren't normally allowed to be alone, but he had to fly out and back by himself.
Nicky's house in Antigua
A cricket field (super popular in Antigua)
- Nicky got driving privileges in Antigua and learned to drive on the left side of the road.
- He ran over someone’s shade canopy in the church parking lot and had to replace it (it was a guy who happens to hate missionaries, so it just gave more fuel to the fire).
- He bought a pair of 44” waist jorts and wears them every p-day (he has a 36” waist, and all the shorts at the store in Antigua were too big or too small).
Jorts for all - when Nicky saw this photo he said, "My jorts look so stupid!"
- He is getting a new mission president at the end of the month.
Possibly Nicky's last time seeing the mission president
- He is always finding animals. In Antigua he had a dog that stayed in his yard and a bunch of chickens. It started as three chickens, and he would feed them every morning, and they started bringing their friends.
Teancum - the Book of Mormon cat
- They had a 5.5 earthquake in Antigua a few weeks ago (it reminded Nicky of home). They were on tsunami watch, but there were no issues.
- The locals have a hard time pronouncing Nicky's name, so they make up things to call him. One guy called him Elder Fruity Loops.
- Nicky had a companion who had yellow-ish blond hair, and everyone would ask him if he was Donald Trump's grandson. Poor kid! No one wants to be accused of looking like Trump.
- Elder Rasband came to visit the mission, but Nicky didn't get to be there in person since he was in Antigua.
The screen on the left has all the missionaries that had to be on Zoom because they were serving out on "the islands"
Elder Rasband talking to the island missionaries
- Nicky might get to see a visitor from home at the end of this month!
- He doesn't like buying stuff and is always acquiring free or used stuff - from his suit (one of his companions gave it to him) to his body soap (which he pulled out of the garbage can after another missionary threw some away). Every time we call him he has another hat, shirt, or clothing item that he got from someone else.
- He recently learned what mangos can do to the digestive system.
The missionaries' trunk full of mangos
- He went from a rainforest-y area to a small isolated island to a concrete jungle (currently he is in the concrete jungle).
- He is a zone leader.
- Nicky goes a lot of really cool places on his p-days.
- In his last area, they had a bug infestation in their house and an exterminator had to come.
Infestation!
- Nicky absolutely loves his mission. Coming home is going to wreck him.
No comments:
Post a Comment