Copied from E-mail Newsletter (Sept. 27, 2008)

Dear Family and Friends:

I figured it was time for an update since I've been back at school for over three weeks. I am taking sixteen credits this semester. They include Religion 301 Old Testament class, Accounting 201 class, Biology 100 lecture, Math 221 Statistics class, Business 220 Communications class and Biology 102 lab. I'm loving being back at school and love all my classes. My professors are such wonderful people who truly want us to succeed here and in our future careers.

I love this school and the people here. It's a very different world than I grew up in, in Wisconsin. Ninety-nine percent of the people here are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It's a wonderful feeling, knowing that this people around me believe the same things I do and are striving for the same goals that I am. Mormons are also a lot friendlier than the people back home. People say hello and smile when you pass them on the sidewalk. I'm not used to that and it makes me extremely happy inside. For example, I had to take a test today in the testing center (we don't really take tests in the classroom but rather in the testing center. The tests are usually open 2-7 days and you can take them whenever it works into your schedule or you've studied enough). Anyways, there was a girl in front of me. She was taking her first college test ever and was extremely nervous. There was a huge line to get into the testing center and we struck up conversation. Then the girl in front of her started talking to us as well. We were probably in line for a good 20-30 minutes and we talked most of the time. We talked about tests, my engagement, our majors, where we were from. This isn't something that would probably happen at most campuses.

My roommate and I walked to Maurices today because she needed some new jeans. On our walk back to our apartment, we saw this poor girl walking home by herself loaded under the weight of all her grocery bags, in heels. Karyn looked at me and asked if we should help her. We reluctantly asked her if she would like some help, not sure of how she would react. We ended walking her all the way to her dorms on the other side of the campus from where our apartment is located. She was a brand new student here and it felt so good to be a seasoned college student able to help somebody knew to the school. When we got to her dorm room, she was extremely appreciative and offered to make us some food. We had to graciously say no because we had other things we needed to do but we told her where we live and told her that if she ever needed anything, to just come and visit us. It felt so good to serve another, especially because we were just like her a little over a year ago and other people helped us to adjust to life here.

This morning, we went to a service project at the sand dunes in St. Anthony. It's about a 30 minute drive from campus there and many BYU-Idaho students spend a lot of time there on dates, having bonfires, having parties, sledding, four wheeling, etc. Personally, I haven't spent any time there. Doin this service project was such an amazing experience for me. Our group just walked up the road and into the dunes, picking up trash. It wasn't that big of a deal. However, I couldn't keep a smile off my face. I was barely doing much, just bending down and putting garbage in a plastic trash bag where it belongs but if felt really good to be making a difference, no matter how small that difference was. There was beer bottles empty and broken everywhere. This was a huge danger to people on four wheelers.

At one point, Karyn and I found a photo album full of these beautiful, professionally taken photos. We felt so bad just throwing it away because we knew somebody must have really missed it. But it looked like it had been there a while and we had no idea how to find its owner so in the trash bag it went. The bees were horrible there and they chased Karyn, Lisa (a girl who lives upstairs from us) and I everywhere. I probably looked so silly dropping our garbage bag and running around screaming. But it just made my experience even more memorable.

Karyn and Lisa rolled down one of the hills. They got sand down their pants and in their shoes. It was pretty hilarious. At the bottom of the hill, I attempted to bury Karyn in sand. It didn't work out so well. Gravity was stronger than my efforts and since she was laying on the hill, the sand just rolled down her. But it was still pretty funny. I have attached a picture of her covered in sand. Sorry it is so small. I took it on my phone and it didn't send it very big.



As many of you probably know by now, I'm engaged. My fiance, Chris is finishing school next year in Auto and Diesel. He's going to move out here to Idaho with me while I finish school. When I finish school, we plan on opening an auto shop together, side-by-side every day. For those of you, who didn't know before this email that I'm engaged, I'm sorry that I wasn't able to tell you in person. It doesn't mean that I didn't want you to know, it just happened before I came back to school and I wasn't able to tell everybody. We're not rushing into this, we've discussed a lot of the aspects and we know that it's not going to be easy entering into this sacred bond. But we feel we're ready. He's going to come out here next summer, right before we get married. He's going to find a job. We have already looked into the apartments here and financially we feel we will be ok.

This winter, while I'm home off-track, I'm going to be doing my first internship (I need two before graduation). I have already applied to CNH and through talking to a representative there, I feel pretty good about my chances of being offered the position, especially since most students don't do there internships during the winter, but rather during the summer. However, this week, I plan on applying to a few more companies.

Yesterday, Lacey (another roommate, I have four) and I went to hang out with some of her friends from Young Abassadors. There was a big bunch of us and we made flour bombs out of napkins and obviously flour. We went to a park and attempted to play capture the flag. We would throw a bomb instead of tackling each other. However, it didn't work out as well as we had hoped. So, we just threw the bombs at each other. It was a lot of fun and I made a lot of new friends. Again, I have attached a photo of the two of us in our floured state.

The other day, there was a Board of Trustees meeting. I'm guessing this is a normal, regular occurence but it was the first time I've ever heard of there being one. Anyways, this meant that a few of the General Authorities were on campus. I was walking to my Old Testament in the Taylor building. There was security guards right outside our classroom, in the lobby area of the building. However, there wasn't any General Authorities in the building or anywhere nearby. I was very saddened because all day, I didn't see anybody. I was really looking forward to seeing at least a glimpse of somebody across the way. Oh well, I have two and a half more years left, it's bond to happen again.

Last Sunday, I had a very unique experience. Our stake was having a Relief Society fireside. A couple of my friends and I were asked if we would sing for it. We decided on the song, "When I Feel His Love." It's a beautiful song. Our bishop's wife decided to make it a three part-piece instead of the two part it was written as. It was amazing. We sounded so beautiful together and I believe we really brought the Spirit into the meeting. I loved being able to use my talent to strengthen others' testimonies. At first, I was really nervous to have all those faces staring up at me but it turned out really good. Our friend, Miriam told us that she couldn't tell who was singing what and we really blended together well.

We did an interesting thumb wrestling bio lab the other day. We were supposed to be practicing the scientific method by coming up with a hypothesis of why some people would win more than others. As a result, we had to measure our thumb circumference and length. I found out that I have an abnormally long thumb. It made me a little self-consious when that was one of the first things people would say to me. "WOW, you have long thumbs!!!" Thanks everybody?!? Oh well, it's nice to be abnormal once in a while.

Well, I think that is all for my newsletter. I hope to send one out a little more often in the future.

Love always and miss you all,
Nicole Seivert

Randomness...

Lacey tells me she loves my face...

And that talking in public is BAD!!!

And you can only take the elevator with a friend (so take a friend everywhere!!!)

Testimony...

I know this is random but I want to bear my testimony. Or at least the simplified version because I think I need to bear it more than anything right now.

I know this church is true. If it isn't then I've just spent the last nineteen years living a lie and letting it control/affect every aspect of my life. I think I would rather die thinking its true and still have lived a good life than get there and find out that I didn't have it and end up in a much worse place.

I know that Gordan B. Hinckley was a true prophet and now President Thomas S. Monson has filled in those large shoes. He's a wonderful man and really the mouthpiece of the Lord on the Earth today. He's a huge inspiration to me and I'm grateful for everything he teaches us now.

I am really grateful for the Restoration of this gospel over one hundred years ago. Like I said before, it has affected every aspect of my life. The school I attended. The way I talk (without swearing that is...not the accent). The people I'm friends with. The things I drink (no beer...no coffee...no caffeine). My virginity. My crime-free life. How I spent my Wednesday nights from 12-18 years old. How I spent my Fridays and Saturdays. Every aspect of my life.

I am really grateful for missionaries. Especially the missionaries who taught my daddy thirty some years ago, the missionaries who taught my Lacey a year ago and now the missionaries teaching my fiance. Because of these great boys and the decisions they made to be worthy to go on missions, my life will NEVER be the same. If my dad had never joined the church, I would not be where I am right now. If Lacey had never been taught the gospel, she wouldn't be here with me now and my college experience wouldn't be the same. I love that girl sooo much! And as selfish as this might sound. I'm grateful Chris is interested in the church because I'll be able to marry him and we'll have a beautiful Mormon home with the priesthood and both parents Mormon and it'll be great.

I also am grateful for temples. They are really spiritual places. My roommates and I frequently just walk up there and sat on the temple grounds. There have been MANY times where I've said a prayer and I've felt the spirit really strong. I can't wait until the day I can go in and be sealed to my love for all eternity.

My Chris...

Sorry but I need to vent for a lil bit... I got yet another "doubt response" today. It hurts to have the people you love not approve of the decisions you're making. Especially when it's one of the biggest, greatest decisions that you have ever made in your life. People act like I haven't thinking every day for the last three months about my future with him. We've discussed kids, names, when, everything. We've discussed money. We've discussed me finishing school. We've discussed when we want to get married. We've discussed the limitations on our physical interaction before and after we're married. We've discussed where we're going to live and have actually found an apartment already. We've looked into jobs for him out here in Idaho. We've discussed the financial restraints and benefits once we're married. We've discussed what we expect from each other in raising our family and making a home. We're not just rushing into this, I promise. I've thought about it, I've prayed about it, I know I want to be with him forever. We have gotten to know each other as much as possible in the six months that we've been together and the distance while I've been here has not hurt our relationship, it's strengthed it! I know that I don't want to be apart from him anymore than I need to be and that he's the man I want by my side for all eternity. And while I do appreciate everybody's prayers and thoughts about my life, at the end of the day, it's me who is getting married not everybody else. I am the one who has to live with the consquences if things don't work out, BUT THEY WILL WORK OUT!!!

Now time to gush, I love Chris with all of my heart. I can't imagine my life without him. He's absolutely wonderful. He respects me and my decisions. He encourages me when I'm down. He's tough on me but only because he knows that I can do sooo much more than I am. He has seen me at my worst. In tears not wanting to get on that plane and not feel his embrace for three to four months at a time and he can still look me in the eye at that moment and tell me that I'm beautiful. And I believe him!!! When I look him in the eye, I can tell I'm all that matters to him. I can see that love and it makes me cry to know that anybody can love me that much. Me, with all of my flaws, most of which he has already seen and yet he still wants to spend forever with me. He knows my cooking needs plenty of improvement and yet he still eats it and wants me to cook for him. He just gives me a big hug when I mess up and says that we'll work on it together. I love him sooo much! He's my everything.

As many people know, he's not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints like I am. But he knew how much the Church means to me so he started reading the scriptures with me, the going to church with me, then taking the missionary discussions, then praying with me. It started out as something to make me happy but it has now become something he's doing for himself. And I have never been prouder of him. We could get married this winter while I'm home off-track. However, he wanted to prove to me that if we got married civilly, he would take me to the temple asap. So, he's getting baptized in December/January and we're getting married in August instead.

My Last Year

So as many people already know Chris and I are very happily engaged. I know this isn't the path many people thought lil Nicole would take. Marrying a non-Mormon, soon to be convert outside of the temple, honestly was not the path I saw myself taking a little over a year ago. But now that I'm here I couldn't ask for a better path to have taken. While I've had my ups and downs through this whole relationship, I couldn't be happier. Chris is a wonderful man and I know that he will be a great husband and a great father to our children. And how do I know this? Because we have talked about everything since day one. We have decided how many kids we want. We have always talked through our problems. I'm not saying that either of us is perfect or that our marriage is going to be all cookies n' creme. But we have a great foundation of trust and communication, and maybe most importantly love and respect.

I'm a different person than I was last fall. I was just starting college and very much still naive to the world. Since then I have met many people in this last year that have really changed my life and I don't mean just Chris. I've met my best friend, Karyn. She has taught me that while perfection isn't possible you CAN get pretty close when you meet her. She is an amazing woman. She has a really strong testimony and while I know she thinks she's a bad Mormon, I think she is one of the best that I have ever met. She has really become one of my closest friends. I have also met Lacey who has given up everything because of something she believed in, because she because she believed in the Church and wouldn't let anything get in her way. I look up to her so much and not just because she's taller than me! She is such an inspiration in ways that she will never know. She makes me laugh and she makes me think about things that I have never thought about before. I love her and I'm extremely grateful for her and the influence she has had on my life.